METHODIST  1 
EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH  r 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/japanmissionofmeOOunse 


REV.  ROBERT  SAMUEL  MACLAV,  D.D. 


The 


Japan  Mission 

OF  THE 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


Edited  by 

DAVID  S.  SPENCER 


THE  BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  OF  THE 
METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 

150  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 


Price,  Ten  Cents 


he  Rev.  Robert  Samuel  Maclay,  D.D.,  holds. 


among  the  foremost  missionary  leaders  of  the 


-i  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the  distinction  of 
being  an  active  agent  in  the  beginnings  of  our  mis- 
sion work  in  the  three  important  fields  of  China, 
Japan  and  Korea.  With  the  remarkable  record  of 
twenty-five  years  in  the  early,  formative  period  of 
the  China  Mission,  the  advocacy  and  then,  for  fif- 
teen years,  the  superintendency  of  the  Japan 
Mission,  and  the  earliest  Protestant  missionary 
exploration  of  Korea,  and  oversight  of  t lie  plant- 
ing of  our  mission  in  the  Hermit  Nation,  he 
completed  his  long  public  career  by  guiding  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Maclay  School  of  Theology,  San  Fernan- 
dino,  California,  as  dean,  from  1S8S,  when  he  retired 
from  service  in  Japan,  to  1S93.  He  was  permitted  to 
see  the  wide  Oriental  territory  which  formed  the 
center  of  his  labors  become  the  present  strategic 
center  of  world  politics  and  history,  and  to  know  that 
to  him  was  given  a principal  part  in  projecting  into 
it  the  decisive  Christian  factor. 


PRINTED  IN  APRIL,  1910 


JAPAN  MISSION 


COUNTRY  AND  PEOPLE 

The  Empire  of  Japan  is  composed  of  a chain  of  islands, 
located  in  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  close 
to  the  continent  of  Asia,  and  extending  in  a general  direction 
from  northeast  to  southwest,  along  the  shores  of 
Siberia,  Korea,  and  China.  The  northern  extrem-  Geographical 
ity  of  Arito  Island,  off  the  southern  point  of  Position 

Kamtchatka,  50°  56'  N.  Eat.,  constitutes  its  most 
northeast  extremity,  while  at  the  southern  end  of  the  island 
of  Formosa,  21°  48'  N.  Lat.,  it  reaches  its  most  southwesterly 
point. 

If  laid  down  on  the  American  Continent  this  island  chain 
would  extend  from  Fort  Severn  on  Hudson  Bay  to  Havana 
in  Cuba,  or  a distance  in  direct  line  of  about  2,100  miles.  The 
islands  number  in  all  several  thousand,  depending 
upon  how  many  are  counted  of  the  rocky  bubbles,  Area  of  the 
lifted  by  volcanic  force  from  the  lied  of  the  ocean.  Islands 

The  largest  of  those  inhabited  are,  beginning  from 
the  north,  Hokkaido,  area  30,267  square  miles;  Honshiu,  area 
86,750  square  miles;  Shikoku,  area  7,029  square  miles;  Iviushiu, 
area  15,763  square  miles.  Here  in  these  four  islands,  and  ex- 
cluding Formosa,  is  a total  area  of  139,810  square  miles,  while 
the  total  area  of  the  empire,  excluding  Formosa,  is  147,721 
square  miles,  which  shows  how  small  is  the  average  area  of 
the  thousands  of  remaining  islets.  Formosa  contains  13,415 
square  miles.  If  to  the  reader  these  figures  mean  little,  it 
may  be  easy  to  remember  that  Japan  is  considerably  larger 
in  area  than  Italy,  or  the  British  Isles,  or  Germany  proper, 
almost  as  large  as  Spain,  and  well  approaching  the  size  of 
France.  She  is  slightly  larger  than  California. 


When  one  considers  Japan’s  great  population,  however,  it 
at  once  becomes  clear  that  there  is  no  territory  to  spare.  If 
California,  with  her  1,500,000  population  had  instead  to 
provide  homes  for  Japan’s  population  of  50,000,- 
Population  000  (1909)  she  would  doubtless  regard  herself  as 
having  too  large  a family  to  support.  But  Cali- 
fornia could  take  care  of  50,000,000  people  more  easily  than 
can  Japan,  because  she  possesses  a greater  proportion  of 
arable  soil.  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  the  seas 


BRIDGE  AND  TEA  HOUSE 


which  lash  Japan’s  very  irregular  coast-line  of  18,178  miles 
furnish  large  stores  of  food  for  her  millions. 

Japan  is  a beautiful  country.  A chain  of  mountains  ex- 
tends throughout  the  length  of  the  islands,  with  a cross  sec- 
tion dividing  Honshiu  into  two  main  portions,  ‘ Southern 
Japan”  and  “Northern  Japan.”  From  these  craggy 
An  Attractive  mountains  spring  deep  gorges  and  narrow  valleys, 
Country  out  of  which,  during  rainy  periods,  flow  swift 

mountain  streams.  Japan  has  no  large  and  long 


rivers.  The  surface  of  the  country  is  very  uneven,  and,  while 
having  less  grandeur  than  Italy,  or  the  eastern  United  States, 
is  exceedingly  varied  and  attractive.  The  storm-swept  moun- 
tains are  clad  in  crazy  old  pines,  cedars,  maples,  and  many 
other  woods;  and  cherry  blossoms,  chrysanthemums,  and  huge 
lotus  flowers  spring  up  along  all  valleys  and  streams.  Beauty 
is  everywhere. 

Since  Japan  passes  through  such  a stretch  of  latitude,  she 
naturally  possesses  a great  variety  of  climate.  In  the  extreme 
north  the  summers  are  cool  and  bracing,  and  the  frigid  winters 
wrap  everything  in  a heavy  mantle  of  snow  and  ice; 
but  in  the  southern  extremity  there  is  little  snow  and  Climate 
the  winters  are  mild,  while  the  summers  are  damp  and 
hot.  In  general  the  climate  is  temperate,  differing  but  little 
from  that  of  the  Gulf  States.  But  the  excessive  humidity  in 
the  atmosphere,  and  the  proportionally  small  amount  of  ozone 
and  electricity  make  it  enervating  and  depressing  to  the 
foreigner,  especially  during  the  late  spring  and  summer  months. 

The  rainfall  is  heavy,  and  particularly  so  at  the  rainy  season 
in  June,  when  it  rains  almost  constantly  for  three  weeks.  In 
short,  Americans  generally  find  the  climate  more  of  a trial 
than  would  from  appearances  seem  to  be  warranted. 

The  Japanese  are  a vigorous  and  prolific  race,  and  the  popu- 
lation is  rapidly  increasing.  While  France  is  decreasing  in 
population,  Japan  gains  about  a half-million  a year.  Physi- 
cally the  Japanese  are  inferior  to  the  races  of  the 
West,  and  even  to  the  Chinese,  being  smaller  and  Characteristics 
possessed  of  less  powers  of  endurance.  But  better  of  the  People 
food  and  the  careful  bodily  training  that  the 
young,  both  boys  and  girls,  now  get  in  the  schools  will  grad- 
ually correct  this,  in  fact  is  making  marked  changes.  Indeed, 
the  average  height  of  the  young  men  anil  women  in  the  schools 
has  already,  we  are  told,  been  increased  over  one  inch  during 
the  last  few  years.  On  the  battlefield  they  have  surprised 
the  world. 

The  Japanese,  inured  through  centuries  to  hardships  caused 
by  floods,  famines,  typhoons,  fires,  and  earthquakes,  are  a 
cheerful  race,  fond  of  bright  flowers,  gay  scenes,  and  light 


amusements.  They  are  generally  friendly  to  foreigners  and 
a pleasant  people  among  whom  to  live.  They  are  kind  to  the 
poor  and  quick  to  relieve  distress. 

A prominent  characteristic  is  their  openmindedness-r  their 
readiness  to  adopt  newr  things,  if  proven  to  be  of  value,  no 
matter  whence  they  come.  They  are,  in  fact,  anxious  to  try 
every  new  thing,  and  to  adopt  what  is  best.  The 
Their  youth  generally  study  well  at  school,  and  make 

Openmindedness  commendable  progress.  Side  by  side  with 
American  or  English  students  in  the  colleges  of 
the  West,  they  easily  hold  their  own,  often  capturing  the 
prizes  offered.  In  professional  life  they  have  made  good  show- 


ings, and  the  list  of  scientists,  specialists,  and  inventors  among 
them  is  a very  commendable  one.  The  abundant  life  and 
energy  of  these  people  in  comparison  with  other  Eastern  races 
is  one  of  the  things  that  most  forcibly  impress  the  traveler. 
They  are  quick,  active,  alert,  enterprising  They  have  an 
inordinate  amount  of  ambition,  not  only  to  do  what  other 
men  have  done,  but  to  surpass  them,  even  to  set  the  pace  for 
them.  Their  haste  to  master  and  use  all  that  is  new  tends 
to  make  them  superficial  rather  than  thorough,  and  they  lack 
somewhat  in  persistence. 

The  soil  is  quite  fertile,  yielding  fine  crops  of  rice,  wheat, 
barley,  beans,  and  vegetables  in  considerable  variety,  while 


cotton,  tea,  and  mulberry  plants  bring  in  large  returns.  A 
variety  of  native  fruits  are  also  produced,  to  which 
in  recent  years  have  been  added  most  of  the  leading  Products  of 
fruits  of  the  United  States.  Japanese  fields  are  cut,  the  Farm 
up  into  small  plots  like  our  vegetable  gardens,  and 
they  look  very  different  from  the  broad,  cultivated  fields  of 
the  West.  Little  rivulets  are  made  to  flow  around  through 
them,  and  by  these  they  are  well  irrigated. 

Although  the  Japanese  are  good  farmers,  their  agricultural 
implements  are'  extremely  crude.  Plowing  is  done  with  a 
wooden  plow,  iron  tipped  and  drawn  by  a horse,  a cow,  or  an 
ox;  or  the  earth  is  dug  over  by  man  power,  a very  heavy  sort 
of  hoe,  called  a kuwa,  being  used  for  the  purpose.  Grain  is 
mostly  gathered  with  a sickle  and  threshed  by  hand  on  the 
ground.  While  model  machinery  is  already  used  in  the  gov- 
ernment experimental  farms  to  some  extent,  the  masses  of 
the  farming  communities  know  little  of  the  use  of  such  helps. 

The  chief  contributions  of  Japan  to  the  world's  markets  are 
tea,  silk,  rice,  and  camphor,  all  of  which  are  of  good  quality. 

She  also  does  a very  considerable  export  business  in  matting, 
matches,  lacquer  ware,  and  porcelain. 

Material  expansion  is  characteristic  of  the  times.  Good 
railways,  fairly  well  conducted,  traverse  the  empire  from  north 
to  south,  the  main  trunk  line  being  something  over  2,000 
miles  in  length;  and  there  are  numerous  cross  lines  already 
open  and  more  under  construction.  One  can  now 
travel  to  all  parts  of  the  country  by  train  com-  Modern 

fortably,  cheaply,  and  in  reasonable  time.  The  Conveniences 

postal  system  furnishes  free  delivery  throughout 
the  empire,  and  is  in  the  main  carefully  and  promptly  con- 
ducted. The  telegraph  system,  conducted  by  the  same  de- 
partment, reaches  practically  all  portions  of  the  empire  with 
commendable  promptness,  and  even  from  the  interior  towns 
direct  cable  communication  may  be  had  with  Europe  and 
America.  Wireless  telegraphy  helped  to  make  possible  the 
naval  victories  of  the  recent  war,  and  stations  on  the  Japan 
coast  are  now  talking  with  ocean  steamers  half  way  across  the 
Pacific. 


The  change  that  has  come  over  Japan  through  her  educa- 
tional system  can  scarcely  be  measured.  A uniform  system 
of  training  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
Educational  the  land  has  tended  to  unify  the  people  in  language, 
System  political  ideas,  and  patriotic  interests. 

One  can  go  nowhere  without  finding  good  school- 


A MODERN  RAILWAY  STATION  AT  OSAKA 

houses,  with  Japanese  children  swarming  around  them  like 
bees.  Over  96  per  cent  of  the  children  of  school  age  are  now 
enrolled  in  schools,  and  this  percentage  is  still  rising.  Pri- 
mary schools  are  to  be  seen  in  every  village  and  hamlet,  while 
the  larger  towns  have  academies  and  agricultural,  industrial, 
normal,  and  other  schools.  There  are  also  eight  government 
colleges  and  two  good  universities.  If  one  leaves  out  of  ac- 
count moral  and  religious  instruction,  the  educational  system 
in  vogue  is  an  excellent  one. 

The  Educational  Department  for  years  opposed  the  estab- 
lishing of  private  schools  in  the  empire,  especially  such  as 
10 


would  not  come  under  the  control  of  that  department.  There 
are,  therefore,  comparatively  few  private  schools  except 
the  Mission  schools.  Among  the  few,  however,  are  the  Private 
great  Wasedo  University,  established  by  Count  Okuma,  Schools 
with  its  5,700  or  more  students,  and  Keio  University, 
established  by  that  fearless  pioneer  educator,  Yukichi  Fuku- 
zawa,  with  its  strong  faculty  and  4,500  students.  The  other 
private  schools  not  connected  with  Missions  are  mostly  tech- 
nical or  primary  schools. 

Of  the  Mission  schools  there  are  (1909)  143,  with  an  en- 
rollment of  about  12,000,  and  it  may  be  questioned  whether 
any  other  form  of  Christian  work  in  this  country  is  accom- 


MISSION  DAY  SCHOOL,  FUKAGAWA,  TOKYO 

panied  with  deeper  or  more  far-reaching  results.  There 
are  also  29  schools  reported  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Mission 
Missions,  having  a total  enrollment  of  5,912.  The  grad-  Schools 
uates  of  those  Protestant  schools  now  occupy  prominent 
positions  in  government  and  business  life,  are  generally  fully 
trusted,  and  in  many  instances  exert  strong  influence  in  favor 
of  Christianity. 


li 


SYSTEMS  OF  NATIVE  RELIGIONS 


There  are  those  who  boldly  assert  that  the  Japanese  are  not 
a religious  people,  and  they  point  to  the  absence  from  temple 
services  of  the  masses  of  the  people.  Others  would  have  it 
that  the  people  are  very  religious,  and  these  cite 
Evidence  of  a the  religious  literature,  the  temples,  the  priests, 
Religious  and  the  festivals  in  evidence.  All  depends  upon 

Instinct  one’s  viewpoint.  Individual  Japanese  do  not 

generally  worship  at  the  temples,  for  they  pay 
the  priests  to  do  this  for  them,  but  the  evidences  of  religious 
desire  are  on  every  hand.  Japan  had  in  1905  192,366  Shinto 
shrines,  and  15,212  priests  serving  therein,  while  Buddhist 
temples  numbered  72,206  and  priests  51,204. 

Festivals  are  frequent  and  popular.  Pilgrims  are  incredibly 
numerous;  five  hundred  thousand  are  said  to  visit  Ise,  and 
nine  hundred  thousand  to  visit  Kompira,  each  year.  Mendi- 
cant pilgrims  abound  on  every  famous  circuit.  Every  house 
has  its  god  or  Buddha  shelf.  Gods  are  conceived  to  exist  by 
the  myriad  and  for  every  conceivable  purpose;  not  only  are 
there  gods  for  farmers,  for  travelers,  for  children,  for  soldiers, 
and  for  mothers,  but  also  for  robbers,  for  immoral  women, 
and  even  for  the  dramshop. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  conversing  with  the  people  one  is 
struck  by  the  widespread  ignorance  of  what  their  religions 
teach.  Not  one  Buddhist  in  a hundred  can  define  the  tenets 
of  Buddhism,  nor  can  a man  tell  you  what  teachings 
Religious  are  Buddhist  and  what  are  Shinto  or  Confucian. 
Ignorance  The  Japanese  has  constantly  before  his  eyes  the  em- 
and  Apathy  blems  of  each  of  these  religions.  In  nearly  every 
Samurai’s  house  (under  the  old  feudal  system  a 
Samurai  was  a member  of  the  soldier  class)  were  the  moral 
books  of  Confucius,  and  the  black  lacquered  wooden  tablets, 
inscribed  in  gold  with  the  Buddhist  names  of  his  ancestors, 
while  on  the  god-shelf  stood  the  idols  of  Buddhism  and  sym- 
bols of  Shinto.  The  cause,  therefore,  of  the  apathy  mentioned 
must  be  sought  in  the  unfaithfulness,  ignorance,  and  laziness 
of  the  priests.  Taken  as  a whole  they  are  a corrupt  and  shift- 
12 


less  lot,  and  have  lost  their  hold  upon  the  educated  classes 
almost  entirely,  while  the  lower  classes  follow  religious  prac- 
tices largely  through  force  of  habit  handed  down  for  centuries. 

Broadly  speaking,  Japan  has  three  non-Christian  religions: 

(1)  Shinto,  or  “The  Way  of  the  Gods,”  which  is  a purely 
Japanese  cult  handed  down  from  the  earliest  times;  (2)  Con- 
fucianism, or  the  teachings  of  Confucius,  the  great 
Chinese  sage,  which  wrere  introduced  into  Japan  Three  Native 
in  270  A.  D.,  during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Ojin;  Religions 

and  (3)  Buddhism,  or  the  teaching  of  Buddha,  or 
Sakya-muni,  which  came  to  Japan  from  Korea  in  552  A.  D., 
having  traveled  from  India 
through  China.  Shinto,  as 
one  has  said,  is  only  a na- 
tional cult:  Confucianism  is 
a philosophy  of  the  relations 
between  man  and  man;  while 
Buddhism  is  a true  religion, 
with  ideas  about  sin  and  sal- 
vation. As  another  has  sum- 
med up  the  scope  of  these 
three  “ways,”  “Shintoism 
furnishes  the  object  of  wor- 
ship, Confucianism  offers  the 
rules  of  life,  and  Buddhism 
supplies  the  way  of  future 
salvation.” 

c r , SHINTO  PRIEST  AND  SON 

Rrof.  Ernest  W.  Clement  „ 

, . sacred  dog,  d50  years  old 

makes  this  statement  regard- 


ing the  Shinto  faith:  “Shinto  is  a system  in  which  the  deifica- 
tion and  worship  of  heroes,  emperors,  family  ancestors,  and 
forces  of  nature  play  an  important  part.  It  has  no 
dogmas,  no  sacred  books,  no  moral  code,  no  phi-  A Simple 
losophy,  no  code  of  ethics,  no  metaphysics;  it  sums  up  Nature 
its  theory  of  human  duty  in  the  following  injunction:  Worship 

Follow  your  natural  impulses  and  obey  the  laws  of 
the  state.  It  requires  of  its  adherents  nothing  except  wnrship 
at  certain  temples  or  shrines  on  stated  days.  A pure  Shinto 


temple  is  an  exceedingly  plain  affair,  in  front  of  which,  at  a 
little  distance,  is  invariably  set  a torii,  or  arch.  Without  idols, 
the  temple  contains,  as  emblems  of  Shinto,  strips  of  paper 
hanging  from  a wand,  together  with  a mirror.  The  form  of 
ordinary  worship  is  simple:  it  consists  of  washing  the  face,  or 
hands,  or  both,  with  holy  water;  of  ringing  a bell,  or  clapping 


WOMAN  WORSHIPING  A TREE 
LIUCHIU  ISLANDS 

the  hands,  to  call  the  god’s  attention;  of  casting  in  a coin  as 
an  offering;  of  standing  with  clasped  hands  during  a short 
prayer,  and  of  making  a farewell  bow.  This  ceremony  is 
sufficient  to  ‘cover  a multitude  of  sins’!  At  the  regular  fes- 
tivals there  are  special  and  elaborate  services,  at  which  the 
priests  (often  laymen)  officiate.  Pilgrimages  to  holy  spots, 
usually  ‘high  places,’  are  important  in  Shinto.” 

U 


After  the  rise  of  Buddhism  to  power,  about  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, Shintoism  became  well-nigh  buried  under  the  rich  para- 
phernalia and  aggressive  power  of  the  Buddhist  faith.  It 
remained  thus  buried  until  the  rise  of  modern  Japan, 
when  the  restoration  of  the  emperor  to  power  led  Decline  of 
to  the  revival  of  the  primitive  faith,  Shinto  receiving  Shintoism 
the  special  protection  of  the  imperial  house.  Ever 
since  this  period  efforts  have  been  made  by  enthusiastic 
Shintoists  to  secure  an  enactment  which  would  make  Shinto 
the  state  religion  of  Japan,  but 
religious  Shinto  has  gradually 
lost  ground.  After  a time  it  was 
reduced  from  a religion  and 
placed  in  charge  of  a Supreme 
Council  as  one  of  ten  depart- 


ments. In  less  than  a year 
thereafter  it  was  again  degraded 
from  a department  to  a board. 
In  1S77  this  board  became 
a Bureau  of  Shrines.  Thus 
Shinto  has  been  completely 
disestablished  as  a religion,  of- 
ficially considered.  This  does 
not  mean  that  it  has  lost  its 
hold  in  a religious  sense  upon 


all  the  people.  Its  head  shrine 


is  at  Ise,  which  has  recently  buddhist  pagoda  at  nikko 
assumed  in  the  popular  thought 

far  greater  importance  than  formerly.  The  imperial  visit 
to  this  shrine  at  the  close  of  the  Russo-Japanese  war,  the 
visit  made  there  by  Admiral  Togo  to  offer  thanksgiving  for 
victory  on  his  homeward  journey  from  the  war,  and  the 
visits  of  the  crown  prince  and  imperial  princes  recently 
made,  add  new  interest  to  this  Shinto  shrine,  and,  there- 
fore, to  all  Shinto  shrines  throughout  the  country.  The 
funeral  of  the  late  Prince  Ito  was  conducted  as  a state 
funeral  in  genuine  Shinto  style.  It  is  nevertheless  true  that 
the  influence  of  Shinto  is  confined  largely  to  the  official  class. 


The  masses  of  the  people  remain  Buddhists,  though  multi- 
tudes on  the  New  Year’s  occasion,  and  at  other  festivals, 
borrow  symbols  of  Shinto  as  means  to  express  religious 
thought. 

The  Japanese  people  are  slow  to  adopt  a new  religious  faith. 
The  survival  of  the  Shinto  faith  itself  stands  as  a testimony 
of  the  strong  tenacity  of  old  religious  ideas.  It  required  a 
century  for  Buddhism,  after  its  introduction  to 
Introduction  this  land,  to  gain  any  appreciable  foothold  with 
of  Buddhism  influential  classes,  and  it  was  not  until  the  Prime 
Minister  Iname  and  Prince  Shotoku  espoused  the 
faith  that  Buddhism  began  to  make  any  headway;  and  not 
until  Kobo  Dashi,  774-834  A.  D.,  introduced  the  principle 
that  Shinto  deities  were  incarnations  of  Buddhist  objects  of 
worship  did  the  new  religion  spread  widely  among  the  people. 
After  this  Buddhism  was  adapted  to  Japan,  rose  in  power, 
overshadowing  the  primitive  faith,  and  ultimately  attained 
great  political  importance. 

In  the  words  of  B.  II.  Chamberlain,  “All  education  was  for 
centuries  in  Buddhist  hands,  as  was  the  care  of  the  poor  and 
sick.  Buddhism  introduced  art,  introduced  medicine,  molded 
the  folklore  of  the  country,  created  its  dramatic 
Its  Influence  poetry,  deeply  influenced  politics  and  every  sphere 
of  social  and  intellectual  activity.  In  a word, 
Buddhism  was  the  teacher  under  whose  instruction  the  Jap- 
anese nation  grew  up.’’ 

But  in  proportion  as  civilization  advanced  under  Buddhist 
influence,  luxury  and  pessimism  arose,  weakening  the  middle 
classes  as  well  as  those  who  carried  the  responsibilities  of  the 
state.  “At  present,”  writes  Ernest  W.  Clement,  “Bud- 
Losing  dhism  in  Japan  is  exceedingly  corrupt,  is  losing  its 

Its  Hold  hold  upon  the  educated,  but  retains  a tremendous 

influence  over  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  The 
majority  of  the  priests  are  ignorant,  illiterate,  and  immoral, 
‘blind  leaders  of  the  blind.’  ” 

Buddhism  brought  a voluminous  ritual,  ornate  temples, 
and  a wealth  of  display  which  instituted  at  once  a strong 
contrast  to  the  unadorned  shrines  and  simple  service  of  the 
16 


Shinto  cult.  Its  idols  are  numberless,  many  of  them  being 
merely  local  gods.  It  can  dress  up  famous  characters 
of  other  faiths  and  deify  them  for  its  service.  Some  Empty 
of  its  gods  are  merely  Shinto  characters  decorated  Forms 
with  the  habiliments  of  Buddhist  thought  and  coloring. 

It  is  the  religion  of  the  common  people.  It  gets  nearer  the 
heart  than  either  of  the  other  two  faiths.  It  is  concerned  far 
more  with  the  future  life  than  with  this.  It  knows  no  salva- 
tion for  the  individual,  whose  highest  attainment  is  absorp- 
tion into  Buddhahood  in  a state  called  Nirvana,  unconscious, 
unreasoning,  unfeeling,  will- 
less. With  its  multitude  of 
visible  objects  of  worship,  its 
gorgeous  ritual,  its  rosary, 
its  wearisome  repetition  of 
prayers,  its  language  largely 
dead  to  the  people,  it  is  in 
many  respects  not  unlike  the 
degraded  forms  of  B,oman 
Catholicism. 

Buddhism  in  Japan  is  di- 
vided into  twelve  chief  sects. 

Some  of  them  are  large,  vig- 
orous, missionary  in  spirit, 
progressive;  others  weak, 
quarrelsome,  having  compar- 
atively little  influence.  The 
reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  there  is  a vast  differ- 
ence between  ideal,  esoteric  or  philosophical  Buddhism — 
of  which  little  is  known  except  by  the  priests  and  the  foreign 
student  of  Buddhist  teachings — and  practical 
Buddhism  as  it  appeals  to  and  is  understood  by  Two  Phases 
the  masses  of  the  people.  Theoretically  some  of  of  Buddhism 
its  views  are  elevating  and  would  seem  to  lead 
to  higher  religious  development.  Practically  the  masses  of 
its  followers  are  low  in  thought,  degraded  in  practice,  and 
pessimistic  as  to  the  future.  It  is  a slave  to  necessary  law, 
and  its  unvarying  answer  for  all  the  ills  and  misfortunes  of 

IT 


DAI  BUTSTJ,  KAMAKURA 
Famous  bronze  image  of  Buddha 


human  life  is  the  pessimistic  shi-kata-ga-nai — “there  is  no 
help  for  it.” 

But  Buddhism  in  Japan  is  not  yet  dead.  Indeed,  a revival 
of  its  life  has  of  late  l>een  manifest.  Alarmed  at  the  progress 
Christianity  is  making,  disturbed  by  the  dissensions  within  its 
own  ranks,  disappointed  with  its  failure  during  the 
Borrowings  wars  with  China  and  Russia  to  make  an  impres- 

from  sion,  though  spending  large  sums  of  money,  while 

Christianity  Christian  agencies  with  little  money  and  less 
prestige  won  strong  approval  and  government 
recognition,  and  stung  by  the  criticisms  of  a press  growing 
daily  in  power  and  effectiveness,  Buddhist  leaders  have  been 
striving  vigorously  to  regain  for  their  faith  its  former  place 
in  the  public  mind.  In  their  attempt  to  make  it  attractive 
they  have  again  taken  to  borrowing.  They  have  Buddhist 
Sunday  schools  and  picnics,  a Buddhist  Bible  with  missionary 
journeys  of  Buddha,  Young  Men’s  Buddhist  Associations  with 
summer  schools,  Buddhist  preaching  services,  even  to  street 
preaching,  a thing  previously  unheard  of,  and  in  many  ways 
reveal  their  anxiety  over  present  conditions.  Not  a few  Bud- 
dhists are  purchasing  copies  of  Christian  Scriptures  and  hymn 
books,  and  to  Christian  tunes  are  being  adapted  Buddhist 
hymns. 

Confucianism  came  early  to  Japan,  but  had  relatively  little 
influence  until  the  seventeenth  century.  Chinese  Confucian- 
ism may  not  deserve  to  be  called  a religion.  But  in  the  hands 
of  the  moral  teachers  of  old  Japan,  and  as  practiced 
Bushido,  by  the  nobler  Samurai,  it  became  transformed 

a Form  of  into  an  ethical  religion  known  as  Bushido,  “The 

Confucianism  Way  of  a Warrior.”  Its  central  principle  was 
loyalty.  Obedience  of  the  inferior  to  the  superior 
wras  the  keyword.  As  thus  adapted  to  Japan  Confucianism 
differs  from  its  Chinese  aspect  in  the  heroic  military  spirit  that 
pervades  the  whole,  in  exalting  loyalty  over  filial  piety,  and 
in  ascribing  to  loyalty  and  filial  piety  a religious  authority. 
Bushido  produced  many  noble  characters  whom  the  nation 
now'  delights  to  honor.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  severe  training 
received  by  her  ruling  classes  under  the  guidance  of  Bushido, 
is 


Japan  could  not  to-dav  have  taken  her  place  so  easily  and,  on  the 
whole,  so  successfully  among  the  civilized  nations  of  the  earth. 

This  system  built  up  again  the  sanctions  for  family  and 
social  life,  stating  in  detail  the  duties  of  each  class  and  indi- 
vidual. Bushido  restored  to  the  practical  life  of  the  nation 
those  choice  idealizing  spirits  whom  Buddhism  had 
for  centuries  been  drawing  off  to  the  mountains,  Its  Strength 
to  Japan's  incalculable  injury.  It  sought  to  estab-  and  Weakness 
lish  the  practical  life  of  the  state  and  of  the  family 
on  the  firm  foundation  of  character  and  knowledge.  But 


Bushido  had  no  systematic  propaganda,  no  missionary  zeal; 
it  had  no  worship  for  the  Supreme  Being.  It  had  no  church, 
no  priesthood,  no  organism.  It  was  a system  of  thought,  a 
philosophy  of  life,  a code  of  religious  ethics,  but  not  truly  nor 
completely  a religion.  Hence  its  complete  collapse  on  the 
advent  of  Occidentalism.  An  important  tenet  of  Bushido,  as 
of  Confucianism,  was  to  let  the  gods  severely  alone.  It  con- 
tained no  doctrine  of  salvation  for  the  sorrowing  and  self- 
condemned.  It  was  a system  of  stern  political  morality  and 

19 


of  personal  stoicism;  it  was  thus  unfitted  to  reach  and  uplift 
the  sinning,  downcast,  and  helpless  masses. 

Bushido  has  absorbed  elements  from  both  Confucianism 
and  Buddhism.  From  the  latter  it  gets  its  pessimistic  or  stoical 
fatalism;  from  the  former  its  loyalty  or  patriotism.  It  has 
been  fashionable  chiefly  with  the  military  classes.  It  em- 
phasizes justice,  courage,  benevolence,  politeness,  veracity, 
honor,  and  self-control,  but  ignores  personal  chastity  in  men, 
and  encourages  suicide  and  revenge.  To  Confucianism  must 
probably  be  charged  in  some  degree  the  apparent  religious 
indifference  of  the  Japanese. 

What  then  is  the  status  of  these  non-Christian  religions? 
Are  they  sufficient  for  the  moral  and  religious  needs  of  Japan? 

Buddhism,  as  we  have  seen,  is  hopelessly  divided  into  a 
dozen  chief  sects  with  still  further  subdivisions,  and  there  is 
a great  lack  of  harmony  among  them.  The  priesthood  is  ex- 
ceedingly corrupt,  ignorant,  and  with  little  influence, 
All  three  except  over  the  lowest  classes.  It  would  have  far 
Religions  less  influence  did  it  not  largely  control  the  funeral 

Outgrown  rites  and  cemeteries.  Buddhism  is  out  of  the  race. 

It  will  long  remain  as  a religious  and  superstitious 
influence,  will  attract  visitors  to  its  temples,  and  by  its  im- 
mense property  investments  and  the  gifts  of  its  misled  fol- 
lowers keep  up  a show  of  life;  but  under  the  blazing  light  of 
the  scientific  and  religious  thought  of  the  twentieth  century 
it  cannot  permanently  stand. 

Shinto  is  also  out  of  the  race.  For  reasons  above  outlined 
it  cannot  appeal  to  an  enlightened  people  as  possessed  of  a 
sufficient  religious  basis.  “The  strength  of  modern  Shinto  as 
a religion  is  in  its  doctrine  of  the  divine  descent  of  the  im- 
perial house.  But  here,  too,  is  its  weakness;  for  in  proportion 
as  the  science  of  anthropology  destroys  this  belief,  Shinto 
as  a religion  will  be  wholly  routed.”  It  has  already  been 
officially  killed. 

Confucianism  or  Bushido  is  likewise  out  of  the  race.  How- 
ever much  a few  skillful  Japanese  writers  may  glorify  its  teach- 
ings and  a few  uninformed  foreigners  laud  its  virtues,  the 
thoughtful  student  of  the  times,  be  he  Japanese  or  foreigner, 


knows  that  it  is  out  of  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  new 
Japan.  It  exalts  the  military  virtues.  According  to  its  tenets, 
manhood  as  such  has  no  rights.  It  scorns  industrialism  and 
commercialism.  In  essence  it  is  opposed  to  popular  govern- 
ment, to  the  education  of  the  masses,  and  to  that  pronounced 
individualism  toward  which  new  Japan  is  fast  tending. 

It  should  he  carefully  noted  that  the  moral  and  religious 
wants  of  Japan  to-day  are  being  met  by  neither  one  nor  all 
of  these  religions.  “It  is  pointed  out  by  the  Japanese  them- 
selves that  ethical  thought  in  Japan  to-day  is  in 
confusion,  and  the  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  More  A Moral 

than  aught  else,  it  is  the  whirlpool  created  by  the  and  Religious 

inrush  of  Western  ideas  and  the  break-up  of  old  Lack 

Japanese  standards  that  has  wrecked  so  many 
Japanese  youth.  The  transfer  of  the  seat  of  moral  authority 
from  Confucius  to  the  individual  conscience  has  been  so  sudden 
that  many  a man  has  been  morally  killed  by  the  shock.  The 
extent  of  the  mental  and  emotional  distress  prevailing  at 
present  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  one  Christian  edu- 
cator receives  dozens  of  letters  every  month  from  men  and 
women  who  are  contemplating  suicide,  and  the  Asahi  Shimbun 
bureau  of  consultation  for  intending  suicides  receives  as  high 
as  fifty  letters  a day  from  such  persons,  many  of  whom  are 
students.” 

According  to  investigations  made  by  the  Department  of 
Home  Affairs,  the  number  of  suicides  throughout  Japan  during 
1908  was  10,149,  and  these  sad  cases  are  on  the  increase.  The 
most  alarming  feature  of  this  moral  symptom  is  the 
very  large  proportion  of  young  people  suicides,  both  One  of 

male  and  female.  Non-Christian  Japan  is  increasingly  the  Signs 
dissatisfied.  The  nation  stands  in  dire  need  of  a new 
religious  force.  It  must  be  a spiritual  religion,  which  can  both 
satisfy  the  heart  and  control  the  moral  conduct. 

MODERN  CHRISTIAN  DEVELOPMENT 

It  should  be  a matter  of  great  thanksgiving  that  forces  are 
at  work  which  tend  to  the  uplift  of  Japan.  A half  century  ago 
Japan  was  compelled  to  face  the  question  of  her  future  political 

21 


history.  Put  in  the  fewest  words,  the  question  was  whether 
she  should  face  for  the  future  toward  Asia,  with  its 
Facing  old  religions,  its  deep  superstitions,  its  distinctly 

Toward  Oriental  customs,  laws,  language,  education,'  and 

the  West  moral  impulses — or  whether  she  should  squarely 
face  the  Occident,  where  religion,  commercial  and 
civil  law,  education,  and  the  entire  environment  are  as  far 
removed  as  the  poles  from  those  of  the  East;  and,  after  much 
discussion,  many  doubts  and  fears,  but  nevertheless  with  hope 
as  to  the  future,  Japan  decided  to  face  the  Occident.  That 
this  is  true  will  Ire  seen  from  various  things  which  Japan  de- 
cided to  do.  namely: 

(1)  The  guarantee  of  religious  liberty  to  all  her  subjects,  as 
provided  in  Article  28  of  the  Constitution.  When  Christianity 
first  came  to  Japan  there  was  practically  no  such  thing  as 

freedom.  The  word  jiyn  was  then  invented  to  ex- 
Religious  press  this  idea.  It  is  of  the  very  greatest  importance 

Liberty  to  the  Japanese  nation  that  deep  in  her  foundation 

has  been  laid  this  stone — religious  liberty  for  the 
entire  nation.  The  reader  should  remember  that  Japan  is  the 
only  non-Christian  nation  to-day  that  protects  Christianity 
and  puts  it  on  the  same  level  with  the  native  religions. 

(2)  A constitution  and  laws  based  upon  Christian  models. 
Japan  went  to  Europe  and  America,  not  to  China,  for  her 
models  in  law.  In  doing  so  she  turned  her  back  on  India, 

China,  Korea,  and  her  own  past.  It  is  not  easy  to 
New  Laws  conceive  the  vast  difference  which  this  whole  people 
now  feel  by  having  a system  of  law  and  code  based 
upon  the  Code  Napoleon,  which  in  the  last  analysis  is  Christian 
law. 

(3)  She  has  introduced  democratic  ideas,  as  manifested  in 
the  deliberative  bodies  established  in  all  the  provinces,  and  in  a 
Diet,  which,  with  the  approval  of  the  Emperor,  makes  the  laws 

and  regulates  the  political  life  of  the  nation;  in 
A Democracy  manhood  suffrage;  in  a comprehensive  and  in- 
creasingly valuable  school  system  for  all  classes; 
in  freedom  of  the  press;  in  encouragement  of  commerce  and 
manufactures. 


OO 


(4)  She  has  adopted  the  Gregorian  calendar  and  has  made 
the  Christian  Sabbath  a legal  holiday  in  her  government 
institutions  generally,  except  in  the  postal  and  telegraph 
departments. 

(5)  She  is  putting  a new  value  upon  human  life.  Foreigners 
living  on  this  soil  to-day  can  remember  when  the 

lives  of  the  lower  classes  of  people  were  scarcely  The 

worth  a straw,  and  now  they  witness  those  same  Individual 

people  elevated  to  citizenship  and  enjoying  the 
rights  of  men. 

(6)  She  is  recognizing  the  principle  of  the  equality  of  all 
men  before  the  law,  so  that,  no  matter  what  a man's  rank, 
he  is  subject  to  the  law  if  he  violates  it.  and  as  a citizen 
must  take  his  part  in  defense  of  the  nation  in  time  of  war 


THE  READING  LESSON 
23 


(7)  She  is  putting  a new  estimate  upon  the  value  of  woman- 
hood and  the  sacredness  of  the  family  relation.  Shintoism  has 
no  place  for  woman.  Buddhism  counted  her  un- 
Womanhood  clean  and  unfit  to  visit  the  sacred  places  of  that 
ancient  faith.  Christianity  gives  her  a high  place 
in  the  home,  and  an  equal  place  in  the  church;  and  the  change 
to  Japanese  womanhood  is  already  marvelous. 

(8)  She  has  introduced  a new  idea  of  justice.  Under 
Ideal  of  the  old  laws  revenge  was  justified,  and  to  fail  to  take 
Justice  revenge  was  considered  cowardly  and  mean.  The 
new  law  punishes  a man  for  taking  revenge. 

(9)  She  is  approving  directly  or  indirectly  many  Christian 
institutions  which  do  their  work  effectively  in  the  elevation 
of  man:  for  example,  the  Red  Cross  Society,  with  its  1,500,000 

members  in  this  country ; orphanages  for  the  poor, 
Christian  down-trodden,  sorrowing;  asylums  for  the  in- 

Philanthropies  sane;  hospitals  for  the  sick;  schools  for  the  deaf. 

dumb,  anti  blind.  The  positions  given  in  the 
recent  war  to  some  of  these  agencies  for  the  alleviation  of 
suffering  tell  forcibly  what  the  better  heart  of  Japan  thinks 
of  these  Christian  institutions. 

(10)  Other  Signs.  The  presence  of  Christian  ideas  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  has  changed  the  thought  of  many.  The 
great  educator  Fukuzawa  from  an  opponent  of  Christianity 

became  an  advocate  of  the  new  religion — not 
General  as  a.  personal  adherent  of  the  Christian  faith, 

Attitude  Toward  but  for  political  and  social  reasons.  In  1873 
Christianity  the  edicts  against  Christianity  were  quietly 

removed,  though  never  publicly  repealed.  Grad- 
ually hospitals  and  orphanages  began  to  appear,  agencies 
practically  unknown  in  old  Japan.  In  1905  the  Emperor  made 
a gift  of  10,000  yen  to  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associa- 
tion because  of  its  excellent  work  in  connection  with  the  war. 
Christians  were  often  chosen  for  important  positions,  because 
they  were  reliable  where  other  men  failed  morally.  This  is 
increasingly  true.  The  whole  Bible  has  been  translated  into 
the  Japanese  vernacular  and  finds  increasing  sale  throughout 
the  land.  Formerly  ordinary  book  stores  would  not  keep  a 

24 


copy  of  Christian  Scriptures  on  sale  because  of  the  odium 
attached  to  that  book.  To-day  booksellers  very  gladly  dis- 
tribute and  advertise  the  Christian  Scriptures  and  colporteurs 
may  stand  upon  the  streets  selling  copies  of  the  same,  usually 
without  interruption.  Hundreds  of  stores  in  Tokyo  sell  Christ- 
mas  cards  and  Christian  literature. 

New  words  are  also  coming  into  the  language — words  dis- 
tinctly Christian  in  origin  and  spirit.  Christian  phrases  are 
used  by  public  speakers  on  all  sorts  of  subjects.  The  most 
successful  novels  now  being  circulated  draw  upon  Christian 
truth  for  much  of  their  force. 

The  old  religions  are  not  dead.  In  some  respects  a distinct 
revival  is  manifest  in  them,  and  a great  battle  has  yet  to  be 
fought.  But  it  is  perhaps  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  greatest 
single  religious  force  in  Japan  to-day  is  Christianity,  and  in 
the  successful  propagation  of  Christianity  lies  the  hope  of 
Japan. 

In  view  of  the  conflict  of  ideas,  and  the  battle  between  re- 
ligious faiths  of  the  East  and  the  West  in  Japan,  the  question 
may  naturally  arise — What  will  Japan  do  ultimately?  Will 
she  swing  back  toward  the  old  faiths,  toward 
Oriental  ideas,  turn  her  back  upon  the  West  The  Japan  of 
and  be  satisfied  to  enjoy  a repetition  of  her  past  the  Future  Will 
history,  or  has  the  root  principle  of  modern  Be  Christian 
civilization  struck  deep  enough  to  produce  a 
tree  that  shall  stand  in  future  ages,  a living,  luxuriant,  splendid 
growth?  The  writer  believes  that  the  die  has  already  been 
cast;  that  when  Japan  decided  to  take  on  Western  institutions 
and  laws  and  link  herself  with  the  commercial  West  she  prac- 
tically settled  the  religious  question  also.  To  rank  Japan 
to-day  as  a Christian  nation  is  far  from  the  truth  and  well  nigh 
absurd,  but,  following  along  the  lines  of  her  new  growth,  the 
Japan  of  the  future  will  be  Christian.  Her  ideas  are  to-day 
leading  her  toward  the  ranks  of  the  Christian  forces.  Says  Dr. 

S.  Motoda,  one  of  her  prominent  citizens,  “Japan  will  adopt 
all  the  institutions  conducive  to  human  welfare  according  to 
Christian  ideas  and  principles;  the  bulk  of  the  people  will  come 
to  believe  in  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.” 


Conditions  Met  by  First  Protestant  Missionaries 

A little  more  than  fifty  years  ago  it  was  impossible  for  mis- 
sionaries to  enter  Japan.  The  very  name  of  Christianity  was 
hated.  The  wonderful  work  commenced  three  centuries  before 
by  Xavier  had  been  terminated  by  bitter  perseeu- 
Hatred  of  tions  in  which  myriads  of  Roman  Catholics  lost 

Christianity  their  lives.  Stern  measures  were  adopted  for 

ferreting  out  any  who  might  be  secret  adherents 
of  the  hated  religion.  In  every  town  was  posted  a notice 
declaring  that  the  evil  sect  known  as  Christianity  was  strictly 
under  the  ban,  and  that  rewards  would  be  given  to  any  who 
gave  information  against  its  followers.  Householders  were 
required  to  obtain  each  year  from  the  Buddhist  priests  a 
certificate  that  no  member  of  the  family  was  a Christian.  In 
many  parts  of  the  country  the  people  were  made  to  show  by 


DECREE  AGAINST  CHRISTIANITY 

The  above  copy  of  the  decree  of  the  Japanese  Government  against 
Christianity  was  originally  written  on  a wooden  board.  This  is  the 
translation: 

ORDER 

Hitherto  the  Christian  Religion  has  been  forbidden,  and  the 
order  must  be  strictly  kept! 

The  corrupt  religion  is  strictly  forbidden!! 

Done  in  the  3d  month  of  the  4th  (year]  of  Kvo  ( March,  1868). 

By  order  of  the  Inugami  Prefecture. 


trampling  on  the  cross  their  hatred  of  the  religion  that  it 
represented.  Books  containing  references  to  Christianity,  or 
even  to  European  countries,  were  prohibited.  The  Japanese 
were  not  allowed  to  visit  foreign  lands.  The  only  Europeans 
allowed  to  trade  with  Japan  were  a few  Dutch  merchants  who 
were  willing  to  submit  to  humiliating  conditions  for  the  sake 
of  a little  trade. 

Christians  of  the  West  longed  to  enter  these  closed  doors. 
Roman  Catholics  prayed  that  the  land  whose  soil  had  been 
stained  by  the  blood  of  so  many  martyrs  might  again  resound 
with  praise  to  Jesus  and  Mary.  Protestants  were 
interested  in  what  they  heard  of  the  Japanese  and  First  Attempt 
longed  to  give  them  the  gospel.  In  1814  a French  to  Find 

priest  and  in  INIfi  a Protestant  missionary  took  Entrance 

up  their  residence  in  the  Liuchiu  Islands,  which  at 
that  time  loosely  acknowledged  their  allegiance  to  Japan.  The 
Protestant  was  Dr.  Bettelheim,  a converted  Jew.  He  was 
surrounded  by  guards  and  spies,  who  did  their  best  to  keep 
him  from  holding  any  communication  with  the  people.  The 
tracts  that  he  distributed  were  immediately  after  gathered  up 
by  the  officials  and  returned  to  him.  Notwithstanding  these 
difficulties  he  baptized  three  persons.  lie  also  prepared  a 
Japanese  translation  of  one  of  the  gospels,  which  was  after- 
ward printed.  In  China  Dr.  Gutzlaff  and  Dr.  S.  Wells  Wil- 
liams prepared  other  translations  by  the  help  of  some  ship- 
wrecked Japanese  sailors.  An  attempt  was  made  to  return 
these  men  to  their  native  land,  but  they  were  not  permitted 
to  land  and  the  ship  that  brought  them  was  fired  upon. 

Prince  Iwakura  stated  to  the  Treaty  Powers  that  if  Chris- 
tianity were  permitted,  the  government,  being  based  on  the 
Shinto  religion,  could  not  continue.  Japanese  officials  would 
consent  to  admit  foreigners  providing  they  could  keep  out 
the  two  most  hateful  things — Christianity  and  opium. 

Period  of  First  Seed  Sowing,  1859-1872 

In  1853  Commodore  Perry,  with  the  American  expedition, 
reached  Japan  and  informed  the  officials  that  he  would  return 
the  next  year  and  demand  a treaty  between  Japan  and  the 


United  States.  He  came,  and  on  March  31,  1854,  a treaty 
was  signed  at  Yokohama,  the  building  erected  for 
Treaties  the  purpose  standing  on  the  very  spot  of  ground  on 

Prepare  which  now  stands  a Christian  church,  the  first  -Prot- 

the  Way  estant  church  building  erected  in  this  empire.  This 
treaty  did  not  give  Americans  permission  to  reside  in 
the  country,  but  it  opened  the  way  to  a treaty  made  soon  after 
which  did  give  this  privilege.  This  is  known  as  the  Townsend- 
Harris  Treaty,  which  per- 
mitted residence  in  certain 
cities  after  July,  1859. 

Other  foreign  countries,  tak- 
ing advantage  of  what 
America  had  done,  soon  se- 
cured similar  treaties  with 
Japan. 

Missionaries  at  once 
made  use  of  the  new  op- 
portunities. T h e 
First  Mis-  first  was  the  Rev. 
sionaries  J.  Liggins,  of  the 
Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church  of  the  United 
States,  who  reached  the 
country  in  May,  two  months 
before  the  time  set  by  the 
treaty,  and  who  was  soon 
joined  by  the  Rev.  (after- 
ward Bishop)  C.  M.  Will- 
iams. In  October  came  J.  C Hepburn,  M.D.,  of  the  American 
Presbyterian  Board;  and  in  November  the  Rev.  S.  R.  Brown, 
the  Rev.  G.  P.  Verbeck,  and  the  Rev.  D.  B.  Simmons,  M.D., 
all  of  the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church  in  America. 

Great  difficulties  surrounded  the  opening  work.  Recollec- 
tions of  political  troubles  that  came  from  the  former  propa- 
gation of  Roman  Catholicism  made  the  government 
Obstacles  fear  Christianity.  Its  profession  was  still  prohib- 

and  Aids  ited.  Spies  watched  the  movements  of  the  mis- 

2S 


DR.  GUIDO  E.  VERBECK 


sionaries.  Persons  suspected  of  being  under  their  influence 
were  liable  to  be  arrested.  A difficult  language  had  to 
be  learned  before  direct  instruction  could  be  given.  Yet 
there  were  some  favorable  circumstances.  Many  of  the  edu- 
cated classes  were  eager  to  learn  about  Western  lands  and 
their  civilization.  Being  able  to  read  Chinese  books,  they 
bought  large  numbers  of  those  that  had  been  prepared  by 
missionaries  in  China,  and  these  contained  many  references 
to  Christian  doctrines.  Many  young  men  desired  instruction 
in  the  English  language.  Of  those  who  were  then  taught  by 
the  missionaries,  a few  afterward  became  Christians;  others, 
and  among  them  some  who  attained  positions  of  great  in- 
fluence, had  their  prejudices  dispelled.  After  a time  some  of 
the  missionaries  were  employed  by  the  government  itself  as 
teachers  of  English  or  of  science. 

In  1864  occurred  the  first  baptism,  that  of  a man  who 
had  been  the  teacher  of  a missionary.  Two  years  later  there 
were  baptized  an  official  of  high  rank  and  two  of  his  relatives 
— their  study  of  Christianity  having  come  from  the 
desire  to  know  the  contents  of  a Dutch  New  Testa-  First 

ment,  which  they  had  found  floating  on  the  water,  Baptisms 
w'here  it  had  probably  been  dropped  from  some 
foreign  ship  in  Nagasaki  harbor. 

In  1865  it  was  discovered  that  many  descendants  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Christians  still  adhered  to  their  faith.  Sev- 
eral thousand  were  arrested  and  banished  from  their  homes. 

The  representatives  of  foreign  governments  at 
once  protested  against  the  persecution,  and  were  Persecution 
told  by  the  Japanese  officials:  “Our  government 
rests  upon  the  Phinto  faith,  which  teaches  the  divinity  of  the 
Mikado.  Christianity  tends  to  dispel  that  belief;  hence  the 
government  has  resolved  to  resist  its  propagation  as  it  would 
resist  the  advance  of  an  invading  army.”  The  persecution 
extended  to  those  who  were  becoming  interested  in  Chris- 
tianity as  taught  lay  Protestant  missionaries,  and  several 
persons  were  thrown  into  prison,  where  at  least  one  of  them 
died. 

Up  to  the  spring  of  1872  only  ten  converts  had  been  bap- 

29 


tized  by  the  Protestant  missionaries.  In  March  of  that  year 
the  rite  was  administered  in  Yokohama  to  nine  others,  who, 
with  two  previously  baptized,  were  organized  into 
Range  of  what,  without  denominational  name,  was  called 

Early  Work  “The  Church  of  Christ  in  Japan.”  In  addition  to 

the  Roman  Catholics  and  Protestants,  a few  per- 
sons had  at  this  time  been  baptized  in  connection  with  the 
Russo-Greek  Church. 


Period  of  Rapid  Growth,  1S73-1889 


In  1873  the  edicts  against  Christianity  were  quietly  taken 
down.  Though  the  laws  themselves  were  not  repealed,  it  was 
evident  that  the  government  would  not  enforce  them.  During 
the  new  era  then  com- 
Eager  mencing  there  was  a 

Interest  great  desire  to  adopt 

Western  customs  and 
ideas.  Railroads,  machinery, 
and  other  material  products  of 
Occidental  civilization  were  in 
demand.  Christianity,  as  the 
religion  of  the  West,  was 
thought  worthy  of  investiga- 
tion. Large  audiences  listened 
to  its  proclamation.  Young 
men  and  women  flocked  in  in- 
creasing numbers  to  Christian 
schools.  After  graduation 
many  of  them  became  earnest 
and  effective  pastors  or  evan- 
gelists. Bibles  and  other  Chris- 
tian books  found  a ready  sale. 


JOSEPH  HARDY  NEESIMA,  LL.D. 


There  were  large  accessions  to 


the  churches.  Many  of  the  local  churches  were  self-supporting; 
and  there  were  also  generous  contributions  for  evangelistic, 
educational,  and  philanthropic  purposes.  The  growth  in  all 
directions  was  so  rapid  that  it  began  to  be  said,  even  by  those 
who  hated  Christianity,  that  probably  by  the  end  of  the  cen- 
tury it  would  be  the  predominant  religion  of  the  land.  The 


churches  of  America  and  England,  encouraged  by  the  glad 
news  coming  from  Japan,  sent  forth  new  missionaries  and 
large  contributions  for  the  enlargement  of  the  work.  It  was 
during  these  years  that  Dr.  Joseph  Hardy  Neesima  did  his 
great  work  of  education  and  evangelization,  largely  at  Kyoto, 
and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  Doshisha  College. 

These  years  were  not  without  their  trials.  There  were 
many  who  bitterly  opposed  the  advance  of  Christianity. 
Buddhism  was  aroused  to  unwonted  activity  and  strove  to 
keep  its  followers  from  going  over  to  the  new  faith.  Those 
who  did  so  met  with  persecution  from  relatives  and 
neighbors.  Many  persons  were  held  back  by  fear  of  In  Spite  of 
losing  trade  or  official  position.  The  movements  Difficulties 
of  the  missionaries  were  hampered  by  regulations 
that  prevented  residence  in  the  interior,  except  as  employed  by 
Japanese,  and  sometimes  it  was  difficult  to  procure  pass- 
ports for  travel.  The  high  pressure  at  which  the  work  was 
carried  on,  and  the  numerous  perplexities  that  arose  in  ad- 
justing the  relations  between  the  missionaries  and  the  Jap- 
anese Christians,  caused  a severe  nervous  strain  that  led 
to  many  failures  in  health.  In  retrospect,  however,  these 
trials,  to  a great  extent,  fade  from  sight,  while  the  period  is 
remembered  as  one  of  great  opportunities,  of  rapid  growth, 
and  of  high  hopes. 

The  statistics  of  Protestant  missions  for  1888  showed  249 
churches,  with  a membership  of  25,514,  the  number  of  adults 
baptized  during  the  year  covered  by  the  reports  being 
6,959.  The  Roman  Catholics  reported  for  the  same  Results 
year  a membership  of  39,298.  The  Russo-Greek 
Church  at  that  time  probably  numbered  not  far  from  16,000 
believers. 

Period  of  Reaction,  1890-1900 

During  this  third  period  the  reaction  which  began  to  be  mani- 
fest in  the  second  period  became  severe.  It  was  not  a reaction 
against  Christianity  simply,  but  against  Western 
civilization  in  nearly  every  form.  The  occa.sioif  for  Against 

it  was  probably  political.  The  people  had  become  Western 

strongly  opposed  to  the  conditions  placed  upon  Civilization 

31 


144  148  152. 


them  hy  the  treaties  which  Japan  held  with  foreign  na- 
tions. These  governments,  some  of  them  of  no  commercial 
consequence,  declined  to  agree  to  the  revision  of  the  treaties, 
except  upon  terms  which  were  deeply  humiliating  to  Japan. 
Repeated  efforts  were  made  to  secure  redress,  led  by  the 
strongest  statesman  in  the  empire,  but  the  concessions  de- 
manded failed  to  get  the  approval  of  the  Japanese  people, 
and  when  Count  Okuma  had  practically  agreed  to  what  seemed 
to  be  humiliating  concessions,  just  before  the  signing  of  the 
treaties,  he  lost  a limb  and  came  near  losing  his  life  by  the 
explosion  of  a bomb  under  his  carriage.  The  reaction  grew 
stronger.  People  who  had  purchased  foreign  knives  and 
forks,  spoons,  plates,  foreign  clothes,  etc.,  were  practically 
forced  to  dispose  of  them  because  of  the  strength  of  conserva- 
tive ideas. 

The  Church  itself  partook  somewhat  of  this  same  spirit. 
In  place  of  energetic  measures  to  evangelize  the  people  a lull 
came  over  the  work  of  the  Churches.  Prominent  pastors  in 
some  of  the  denominations  began  to  advocate  an 
Effect  on  independent  Church,  controlled  by  Japanese,  and 
the  Church  an  adaptation  of  Christianity  to  Japanese  needs. 

It  was  distinctly  the  day  of  the  conservatives,  anil 
the  Buddhists,  seizing  the  opportunity,  undertook  in  many 
shrewd  ways  to  regain  their  standing  with  the  people  and  to 
make  Buddhism  again  popular  as  the  people’s  religion.  Japan 
for  the  Japanese  was  their  cry,  and  with  remarkable  zeal  did 
they  plead  with  the  people  to  stand  by  the  nation  and  Bud- 
dhism, lest  all  perish  through  division. 

Hitherto  there  had  not  appeared  doctrinal  divisions  among 
the  messengers  of  the  gospel  in  Japan,  but  now  came  the 
Unitarians  from  America,  and  liberal  missionaries,  as  they 
were  called,  from  Germany — teachers  of  all  sorts 
Religious  of  rationalism,  who  spread  over  the  country  with 

Controversies  their  tracts  and  publications,  causing  division  in 
the  Christian  ranks  and  adding  confusion  where 
enough  already  existed.  With  theological  unrest  came  spirit- 
ual decline  and  relaxing  of  evangelistic  efforts  to  save  the 
people. 


34 


b L tC 


A commercial  spirit,  too,  had  its  influence  upon  both  min- 
istry and  laymen.  Some  preachers  left  off  preaching  the 
gospel  to  make  money;  church  attendance  decreased  and 
discouragement  came  to  many  an  earnest 
worker  who  had  not  before  felt  so  heavily  the  Commercialism 
strength  of  heathenism  and  cold  commercialism. 

Nevertheless,  during  all  this  period  the  Church  made  some 
ains,  and  there  appear  in  the  statistics  for  1900  the  following 
gures : 


Protestant  Churches 

Members  therein 

538 
. 42,451 

Some  Gains 

Roman  Catholic  adherents 

. 54,602 

Nevertheless 

Russo-Greek  Church  adherents . . 

. 25,994 

The  Greek  and  Roman  Churches  included  children  in  their 
statistics,  while  most  of  the  Protestant  Churches  do  not. 

Twentieth  Century  Outlook 
With  the  opening  of  the  twentieth  century  a change  grad- 
ually came  over  Japan.  The  Boxer  difficulty  in  China  had 


MONUMENT  ERECTED  AT  PORT  ARTHUR  BY  JAPANESE  IN  MEM- 
ORY’ OF  RUSSIANS  WHO  FELL  IN  THE  SIEGE 
35 


broken  out.  ami  Japan  had  gone  with  her  troops  to  take  part 
in  an  international  movement-  to  rescue  imprisoned 
A New  Life  diplomatic  officials,  missionaries,  and  foreign  resi- 
in  Japan  dents  at  Peking.  The  conduct  of  her  officers  and 

troops  was  such  as  to  win  great  praise  from  foreign 
officers  and  diplomatists  and  the  missionary  body.  All  eyes 
now  began  to  turn  toward  Japan. 

The  Churches  in  Japan,  too,  began  to  take  on  new  life,  and 
the  people  began  to  look  upon  international  questions  in  a 
new  light.  The  activity  of  the  Churches  found  expression  in 
a great  forward  movement,  which  represented  to  a 
4 Great  greater  or  less  degree  all  Protestant  denonuna- 

Revival  of  tions,  and  many  leaders  of  the  movement  were 
Christianity  found  among  Japan’s  influential  citizens.  The 
Japan  Evangelical  Alliance  served  as  a unifying 
agency  in  the  carrying  on  of  this  work,  and  little  attention 
was  paid  to  merely  denominational  lines.  Prominent  mis- 
sionaries and  Japanese  Christians  went  out  upon  the  streets 
preaching  the  gospel  of  Jesus  to  the  multitudes.  This  “Taikvo 
Dendo,”  ‘‘Great  Uplifting  Evangelization,”  the  workers  led  by 
banners  carried  by  Christian  laymen,  men  and  women  both 
distributing  tracts  and  using  personal  influence  to  lead  indi- 
viduals to  accept  the  truth,  stirred  the  thought  of  the  people 
of  Japan  to  a great  degree.  Thousands  heard  the  preaching 
of  the  truth  in  this  way  for  the  first  time,  and  to  distant  in- 
terior villages  were  carried  messages  and  leaflets  concerning 
the  Christian  truth.  Perhaps  25,000  people  signed  cards  giv- 
ing their  names  and  addresses  and  asking  that  they  be  taught 
the  Christian  way.  Many  additions  to  the  Churches  took 
place,  and  the  religious  enthusiasm  manifested  at  some  points 
was  a very  unusual  thing  for  Japan. 

From  the  very  beginning  the  Methodist  Churches  took 
prominent  place  in  the  leadership  of  this  movement.  Y. 
Honda,  T.  Ukai,  II.  Yamaka,  II.  Hirat-a,  S.  Ogata,  and  M. 

Yamaka,  among  its  ministry,  and  the  Honorable 
Methodism’s  T.  Ando,  president  of  the  Temperance  League,  and 
Share  in  the  S.  Nemoto,  M.P.,  both  leading  Japanese  Methodist 
Movement  laymen,  with  a multitude  of  missionaries  and 

3G 


others,  contributed  very  largely  to  the  success  of  this  movement. 

To  one  Methodist  Church  in  Tokyo,  located  among  the  student 
class  chiefly,  511  probationers  were  added  in  a single  fortnight. 

Politically  Japan  was  gravitating  toward  the  war  with 
Russia,  which  broke  out  February  5,  1904.  The  political 
aspects  of  that  great  struggle  cannot  be  discussed  here.  Re- 
ligiously, it  opened  to  the  people  of  Japan  a new 
opportunity  for  effective  work.  The  Buddhists  sent  One  Result 

representatives  to  the  front,  spent  large  sums  of  of  the  War 

money,  and  in  many  ways  exerted  themselves  to 
lead  the  soldiers  to  Buddhist  thought  and  consolations.  But 
it  has  been  repeatedly  observed  how  little  influence  they 
seemed  to  have,  while  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association, 
alert,  under  good  leadership,  and  appreciating  the  real  con- 
ditions, though  with  little  money  and  less  prestige,  was  en- 
abled to  accomplish  great  things  for  the  Christian  cause. 
Thousands  of  tracts,  Gospels,  and  other  printed  messages  were 
distributed  among  the  soldiers,  and  in  the  gospel  tents  thou- 
sands heard  for  the  first  time  the  story  of  Christ  and  his  sav- 
ing power,  and  later  came  home  to  their  native  villages  and 
hamlets  all  over  the  land,  bringing  the  story  of  what  they 
had  heard.  Thus  was  the  war,  with  all  its  horror  and  terrible 
bloodshed,  made  a means  for  good  to  a multitude  of  people. 

By  this  time  the  Churches  had  learned  somewhat  more 
fully  the  lesson  of  the  value  of  united  effort,  and  in  Sunday 
school  work,  in  special  forward  movements,  in.  publication 
work,  and  especially  in  the  production  of  a Union 
Hymnal  for  the  Protestant  Churches,  was  good  The  Union 
work  accomplished.  Several  years  had  been  spent  Hymnal 

in  the  collecting  of  material  and  the  translation  and 
the  adaptation  of  tunes  to  the  wants  of  the  Japanese  congre- 
gations, with  the  result  that  a hymnal  was  now  produced 
which  is  perhaps  not  excelled  by  any  other  similar  publication 
in  the  world,  judged  from  the  standpoint  of  its  adaptability 
and  its  wide  usefulness.  The  first  edition,  which  at  the  time 
was  thought  to  be  large  enough  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  Chris- 
tian community  for  years  to  come,  has  already  been  followed 
by  edition  after  edition.  Not  only  so,  but  an  entirely  new 


book  has  been  added  for  Sunday  school  use — all  of  this  still 
under  the  direction  of  an  interdenominational  committee 
representing  the  leading  Protestant  Churches  Probably  no 
other  single  production  in  modern  mission  enterprise,  the 
Bible  alone  excepted,  has  done  more  to  bring  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  people  the  Christian  faith  than  has  this  hymnal. 

The  different  families  of  Protestant  Christianity  have  united 
themselves  in  Japan  to  form  suitable  Churches  to  meet  their 


UNION  HYMN  BOOK  COMMITTEE 
Representatives  of  live  denominations.  Book  used  by  all  Protestants. 

needs;  the  Presbyterian  denominations  in  one  Church,  the 
Episcopalians  in  another,  the  Congregationalists 
Denominational  in  a Church  by  themselves,  (he  Baptists  forming 
Unions  alliances  of  a similar  nature,  and  the  three  main 

bodies  of  Methodists  now  forming  one  Meth- 
odist Church  for  all  Japan.  It  has  never  seemed  necessary  to 
the  Japanese  converts  to  Christianity  that  the  divisions  which 
separated  us  in  our  respective  homelands  should  be  trans- 
planted to  the  soil  of  Japan. 


With  guaranteed  religious  freedom,  with  the  Christian 
press  already  making  itself  felt,  with  the  Churches  united  in 
congenial  families,  with  united  Sunday  school 
work  growing  stronger  year  by  year,  and  with  Grounds  for 

self-support  steadily  increasing,  Japanese  Chris-  Encouragement 
tianity  faces  the  twentieth  century  with  large 
hopes  and  with  good  prospects. 

Statistics  of  Christian  Work  in  Japan  in  1909 


Married  male  missionaries 303 

Unmarried  male  missionaries 40 

Unmarried  female  missionaries 314 

Total  missionaries,  wives  included S90 

Ordained  Japanese  ministers  55S 

Unordained  Japanese  ministers 538 

Total  Protestant  membership  ....  74,560 

Baptisms  during  the  year 7,449 

Organized  churches 579 

Other  preaching  places  . ......  956 

Churches  wholly  self-supporting.  169 

Sunday  schools 1,159 

Scholars  in  same 87.003 

Boys’  schools  15 

Students  in  same, 3,034 

Girls’  schools . 37 

Students  in  same  3,693 

Day  schools 59 

Students  in  same 4,702 

Theological  schools 19 

Students  in  same  318 

Bible  women’s  training  schools 13 

Students  in  same 174 

Roman  Catholic  missionaries 366 

Roman  Catholic  membership 63,094 

Greek  Catholic  missionaries  2 

Greek  Catholic  membership 30,712 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  MISSION 


The  treaty  negotiated  by  Commodore  Perry  between  the 
United  States  and  Japan  was  ratified  in  1854.  Between  this 
date  and  that  of  the  beginning  of  the  Japan  Mission  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  year 
1873,  Methodist  Episcopal  Missions  were  founded  in  India, 
Switzerland,  Denmark,  Bulgaria,  Italy,  and  Mexico.  The 
older  mission  fields  of  the  Church,  together  with  those 
named,  were  rapidly  expanding  during  these  two  decades. 
This  will  explain  the  lateness  of  the  beginning  of  our  work  in 
Japan. 

The  Rev.  Robert  Samuel  Maclay,  D.D.,  one  of  our  first 
missionaries  to  China,  was  the  leader  in  founding  this  Mission. 
1 lis  attention  and  heart  were  first  drawn  to  Japan,  August  9, 
1853,  by  Commodore  M.  C.  Perry,  who  that 
The  Founders  day  returned  with  his  squadron  from  Japan  to 

of  the  Mission  Hongkong  harbor  and  announced  his  successful 

commencement  of  negotiations  for  opening 
Japan  to  the  world.  Before  the  departure  of  Dr.  Maclay  from 
China,  in  1871,  the  Foochow  Mission  forwarded  to  our  Mis- 
sionary Society  an  appeal  for  the  establishment  of  a Mission 
in  Japan.  In  1872  Dr.  Maclay  made  strong  appeals  through 
our  Church  papers  for  funds  with  which  to  open  this  work, 
and  in  the  following  November  the  General  Missionary  Com- 
mittee took  the  first  step  toward  establishing  a Mission  in 
Japan  by  appropriating  $25,000  for  that  purpose.  Bishop 
Jesse  T.  Peck  at  once  appointed  Dr.  Maclay  superintendent  of 
the  Japan  Mission,  and  the  Rev.  John  C.  Davison,  the  Rev. 
Julius  Soper,  and  the  Rev.  Merriman  C.  Harris  were  appointed 
a little  later.  The  Rev.  Irvin  TI.  Correll,  originally  appointed 
to  China,  on  reaching  Yokohama,  en  route  to  China,  was  trans- 
ferred by  Bishop  Harris  to  this  Mission.  On  August  S,  1S73, 
all  these  missionaries,  with  their  wives,  together  with  Bishop 
Harris,  Dr.  John  P.  Newman  and  wife,  Dr.  James  W.  Waugh, 
of  our  India  Mission,  Dr.  Ross  C.  Houghton,  of  the  Northern 
New  York  Conference,  and  Dr.  William  A.  Spencer,  of  the 
Central  Illinois  Conference,  assembled  in  Yokohama,  and  on 
•to 


that  evening  the  Mission  was  organized  by  Bishop  Harris,  at 
the  resilience  of  Dr.  Maclay.  60  Bluff,  Yokohama. 

At  this  meeting  these  Methodist  leaders  proceeded  to  map 
out  “four  old-fashioned  Methodist  circuits  The  first  and 
second  to  be  called  the  Yokohama  and  Yedo  (Tokyo)  Circuits, 
together  with  such  other  portions  of  the  island  of 
Nippon  (Hondo),  on  which  these  cities  are  sit-  Rather  Large 
uated,  as  we  may  lie  able  to  occupy.  The  third  Circuits 

to  be  called  the  Hakodate  Circuit,  embracing  the 
city  of  Hakodate  and  such  other  portions  of  the  island  of 
Yezo  (Hokkaido),  on  which  it  is  situated,  as  we  may  in  time 


be  able  to  cultivate.  The  fourth 
to  be  called  the  Nagasaki  Circuit, 
comprising  the  city  of  Nagasaki 
and  such  other  portions  of  the 
island  of  Kiushiu,  on  which  it 
is  situated,  as  we  may  be  able 
to  occupy.” 

In  other  words,  with  char- 
acteristic Methodist  faith,  these 
missionary  fathers  proposed  to 
preempt  for  Methodism  the 
three  largest  islands  of  the  Jap- 
anese empire,  containing  then  a 
a population  of  about  30,000,000, 
their  outside  stations  being  1,300 
miles  apart,  and  the  extremes  of 
territory  distant  from  each  other 
nearly  2,000  miles.  Dr.  Maclay 
and  Mr.  Correll  located  in  Yoko- 
hama, Mr.  Soper  in  Tokyo,  Mr. 
Davison  in  Nagasaki,  and  Mr. 
Harris  in  Hakodate,  so  that  by 
the  end  of  January,  1874,  our 
pioneers  had  planted  themselves 
empire. 

True  to  their  history,  the  noli 
their  opportunity,  and  the  ste 


in  the  four  quarters  of  the 

le  women  of  our  Church  saw 
amer  of  October  28,  1874, 


brought  Miss  Dora  E.  Schoonmaker  (now  Mrs.  Henry  M . 

Soper,  of  ( ’hieago)  as  the  first  representative  to 
Woman’s  Japan  of  the  Woman’s  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 
Work  In  November  Miss  Schoonmaker  opened  her-  school 

Begun  of  a dozen  boys  and  girls  in  Tokyo,  and  amusing 

and  instructive  stories  are  told  of  the  difficulty  of 
getting  students  to  attend  it,  owing  to  the  prejudices  of  the 
people  against  Christianity. 

Our  first  Methodist  converts  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kichi, 
baptized  by  Mr.  Correll  in  his  own  house,  217  Bluff,  Yoko- 
hama, October  4,  1874.  The  Rev.  John  Ing  and  his  wife, 
previously  engaged  in  our  mission  work  in  China,  entered 
First  upon  successful  educational  work  at  Hirosaki,  in  the 

Fruits  northern  part  of  Hondo,  toward  the  close  of  1^74.  June 

5,  1875,  he  baptized  fourteen  young  men,  all  students 
except  one,  while  eight  others  were  preparatory  candidates 
for  baptism.  On  January  3,  1875,  Dr.  Soper  baptized  Mr. 
Ben  Tsuda  and  wife  in  the  missionary  residence,  Tsukiji, 
Tokyo,  the  first  converts  of  our  Church  in  the  capital.  On  the 
same  day  he  for  the  first  time  administered  the  sacrament  of 
the  Lord’s  Supper  in  Japanese,  and  on  the  17th  of  the  same 
month  opened  services  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Furukawa,  Kudan, 
Tokyo,  out  of  which  grew  our  prosperous  Kudan  Church.  The 
Church  at  Mita,  known  as  the  Draper  Memorial  Church,  is 
likewise  the  outgrowth  of  services  begun  by  him  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  Tsuda  in  May.  The  new  mission  residence  in  Tsukiji 
was  occupied  in  October. 

Our  first  Church  in  Yokohama  stood  on  lot  224  Bluff,  and 
was  bought,  in  an  unfinished  condition,  of  Mr.  Jonathan  Goble, 
a Baptist  missionary,  the  reputed  inventor  of  the  jinrikisha, 
and  previously  one  of  the  sailors  who  came  with 
Pioneer  Commodore  Perry.  This  was  also  our  first  church 

Planting  of  in  Japan,  and  in  it  two  of  our  first  ministers,  Sogo 
the  Work  Matsumoto  and  Tenju  Kawamura,  first  heard,  soon 
after  its  opening,  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  by  Dr. 
Maclay,  and  were  led  to  Christ,  though  they  could  not  under- 
stand the  words  of  the  speaker.  Matsumoto  became  our  first 
native  presiding  elder.  The  Church  in  Nagasaki,  built  on  the 
42 


historic  Deshima  (outer  island),  where  the  government  of  two 
centuries  before  had  hemmed  in  the  Dutch  settlement  and 
factory,  was  completed  by  the  end  of  the  year,  and  in  Hako- 
date also  Mr.  Harris  had  secured  a church  location,  and  was 
carrying  on  regular  services  and  had  baptisms;  so  that  within 
about  two  years  after  the  organization  of  this  Mission  the 
Church  had  been  securely  planted  in  each  of  the  stations 
chosen,  and,  spreading  out  from  these  centers,  its  work  has 
gone  on  steadily  increasing  to  this  day. 

During  the  first  period  of  two  years  of  pioneer  planting 
of  the  Mission  the  expected  reinforcements  did  not  come,  the 
financial  depression,  beginning  in  the  United  States  in  1S74, 
having  hindered  the  enlargement  of  the  work;  but  in  the  period 
now  opening  the  much  needed  help  began  to  appear.  Now 
school  enterprises  were  established,  publishing  interests  began 
to  receive  attention,  and  touring  became  common.  The  year 
1875-6  is  also  marked  by  the  organizing  of  church  classes, 
and  the  beginning  of  love  feasts  and  quarterly  meetings  and 
( 'onferenees. 

A prominent  distinction  between  this  and  the  previous 
period  lies  in  the  fact  that  this  year,  for  the  first  time,  our 
Japanese  pastors  and  teachers  began  to  take  part  in  the  Annual 
Meeting,  and  in  all  our  history  one  of  our  strong 
points  has  been  in  bringing  these  Japanese  ministers  Position  of 
into  our  deliberations,  and  giving  them  equal  eccle-  Native 

siastical  rights  with  ourselves,  just  as  fast  as  they  Workers 

were  able.  By  so  doing  we  have  avoided  many  of 
the  difficulties  which  have  rent  the  missions  of  other 
denominations. 

In  January,  1S77,  the  new  school  for  girls  and  the  new 
church  in  Tsukiji  were  occupied.  Our  first  Methodist  hymnal, 
translated  or  written  originally  by  Mr.  Davison, 
came  into  existence  in  July,  and  contained  27  Expansion  of 

hymns  and  doxologies;  our  book  now  carries  485  the  Work 

numbers.  The  baptism  by  Mr.  Harris,  in  August, 
of  twelve  students  of  the  Agricultural  College  in  Sapporo 
opened  our  work  in  that  great  city  of  the  north. 

The  Rev.  John  Ing,  who  at  the  request  of  the  Mission  was 

4:j 


transferred  from  the  China  Mission  anti  became  a member  of 
the  Japan  Mission  in  1876,  continued  to  have  large  success  in 
reaching  young  men  at  Hirosaki.  Under  his  direction  five  of 
his  students  came  to  the  United  States,  in  1S77-7S,  to-pursue 
courses  of  study  at  what  is  now  DePauw  University,  Indiana, 
the  forerunners  of  many  others  who  have  sought  in  America 
fuller  equipment  for  later  labors  in  their  native  land. 

The  Rev.  W.  C.  Davison  and  wife  joined  the  Mission  at 
the  end  of  1877,  the  first  regular  reinforcements  sent  out. 
In  the  eight  years  before  the  organizing  of  the  Mission  into  a 
Conference  there  was  a gradual  increase  of  the 
Reinforcements  force  of  missionaries  from  America,  both  on  the 
part  of  the  Parent  Board  and  the  Woman’s 
Foreign  Missionary  Society.  Among  those  who  wrent  out  in 
those  years,  and  are  still  associated  with  the  Mission,  are  the 
Rev.  Gideon  F.  Draper  and  the  Rev.  Charles  Bishop.  The 
name  of  the  Rev.  Milton  S.  Vail,  who  inaugurated  the 

higher  educational  work  of 
the  Mission  in  187!),  should 
be  joined  with  the  fore- 
going. 

In  the  work  of  the  Wom- 
an’s Foreign  Missionary 
Society  Miss  Schoonmaker 
was  first  reinforced  by  Miss 
Olive  Whiting,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1 876,  and  in  November, 
1879,  by  Miss  Elizabeth 
Russell  and  Miss  Jennie  M. 
Cheer.  Others  came  into 
the  field  before  the  organ- 
izing of  the  Conference,  and 
of  these  there  were  still  en- 
rolled in  the  Mission  forces 
in  1909  Misses  Russell, 
Gheer,  Mary  S.  Hampton, 
miss  Elizabeth  miss  Jennie  Matilda  A.  Spencer,  and 

russell  m.  gheer  Rebecca  J.  Watson. 

44 


The  year  1879  has  been  called  in  our  Mission  “a  year  of 
disaster  and  growth.”  The  membership  almost  doubled, 
self-support  quadrupled,  and  new  churches  were  organized  in 
important  centers.  The  Japan  Conference  Semi- 
nary was  opened  at  221  Bluff,  Yokohama,  October  Year  of 

1st,  Dr.  John  F.  Goucher  giving  §10,000  to  Disaster  and 
encourage  this  particular  line  of  work;  and  the  Growth 

girls’  school  in  Nagasaki  was  opened  in  December. 

On  December  7th  our  church  and  school  buildings  in  Hako- 
date were  destroyed  by  fire,  and  on  the  26th  our  entire  prop- 
erty in  Tsukiji — school,  church,  residences — was  consumed  in 
a great  conflagration  which  swept  away  a large  section  of  the 
city.  Our  missionaries  there  lost  all,  and  w'ould  have  suffered 
intensely  but  for  the  kindness  of  friends,  Japanese  and  foreign, 
who  came  to  their  immediate  relief. 

Naturally  the  next  year  was  largely  spent  in  recovering 
the  ground  lost  by  these  disastrous  fires.  Overwork  broke 
down  some  of  our  missionaries,  and,  though  reinforcements 
came,  they  were  never  sufficient  to  meet  the  needs  of  the 
work.  On  August  28,  1881,  Bishop  Bowman  ordained  to  the 
office  of  deacon  S.  Kurimura,  B.  Onuki,  E.  Aibara,  K.  Asuga, 

T.  Ivikuehi,  and  S.  Abe,  the  first  native  converts  in  our  own 
Church  to  receive  ordination,  as  the  Rev.  Y.  Honda,  men- 
tioned above,  was  converted  in  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
and  ordained  by  Bishop  Wiley  in  1878. 

After  the  year  18S1  our  publishing  work  assumed  new  in- 
terest, and  the  Berean  Sunday  school  lessons  began  to  be 
regularly  translated  and  published  in  Japanese. 

The  schools  now  began  to  grow7  in  numbers  and  importance. 

Of  more  advanced  schools,  Cobleigh  Seminary  at  Nagasaki, 
now  called  Chinzei  Gakuin,  and  the  rebuilt  girls’  school 
at  Tsukiji,  were  opened  in  1881,  and  the  new  buildings  Mission 
for  Ivwassui  Jo  Gakko,  or  Girls’  Seminary,  at  Nagasaki,  Schools 
were  dedicated  May  29,  1882,  when  Joseph  Cook  de- 
livered the  address. 

Through  the  generosity  of  Dr.  Goucher,  of  Baltimore,  plans 
had  been  made  for  the  founding  of  a Methodist  College  in 
Tokyo,  and,  through  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Philander  Smith,  the 

45 


theological  school  known  as  the  Philander  Smith  Biblical 
Institute  was  established.  On  January  1,  1883,  the  money 
was  paid  over  which  gave  us  possession  of  our  splendid  prop- 
erty of  about  twenty-five  acres  at  Aoyama,  or  “Green.  Moun- 
tain,” the  beautiful  suburb  of  Tokyo,  a location  which  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired.  The  theological  school  was  removed 
from  Yokohama  and  became  a part  of  the  Aoyama  plant, 
the  training  school  for  Bible  women  taking  the  property  thus 
vacated.  Later  the  Tsukiii  girls’  school  was  also  removed  to 


KWASSUI  JO  GAKKO,  OR  GIRLS’  SEMINARY,  NAGASAKI 


The  school  buildings  are  in  the  background,  to  the  right 

Aoyama,  where  we  now  have  a college,  a middle  school,  a 
theological  school,  a seminary  for  girls,  and  an  industrial 
school  for  women. 

Revivals  appeared  in  all  parts  of  the  field  in  1883,  and  were 
confined  to  no  denomination.  The  number  of  converts  in 
Japan,  in  this  one  year  alone,  about  equal  the  en- 
First  Great  tire  number  converted  during  the  first  twenty  years 

Revival  of  mission  work.  Wonderful  demonstrations  of 

power  were  manifest.  The  greatest  results  were  in 

40 


our  schools.  More  than  half  our  students  were  converted, 
twenty-seven  in  one  school  in  one  night.  The  spiritual  uplift 
given  to  our  work  by  this  gracious  revival  has  never  lost  its 
effect. 

This  year  also  we  graduated  our  first  theological  class, 

T.  Doi,  II.  Hirata,  T.  Yamada,  and  II.  Yamaka,  a noble 
quartet;  and  a second  class  of  native  preachers  received  ordi- 
nation, a wonderful  showing  for  the  first  ten  years  of  mission 
work  in  a field  new  to  Christian  truth. 

Perhaps  in  no  way  did  the  great  revival  of  1883-84  show 
its  genuineness  more  clearly  than  in  the  strength  which  it  at 
once  gave  to  the  movement  toward  self-support,  which  had 
already  started  among  the  churches  of  our  Mission,  and  has 
steadily  grown  to  the  present  time. 

These  movements  formed  the  fitting  preparation  for  the 
organization  of  the  Japan  Mission  into  an  Annual 
Conference  in  August,  1884.  Including  members  on  Japan 

probation,  the  Conference  had  13  foreign  missionary  Conference 
members  and  111  native  preachers.  The  Woman’s  Organized 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  had  12  representatives 
on  the  field.  There  were  1)07  members  of  the  Church,  211  pro- 
bationers, and  1,203  Sunday  school  scholars. 

A third  period  covers  the  history  of  the  Mission  from  its 
organization  into  an  Annual  Conference  in  18S4  to 
the  present  time.  The  work  of  the  first  period  fixed  The  Third 
the  Mission’s  geographical  boundaries;  that  of  the  Period 

second  the  lines  of  our  work.  The  third  period  has 
been  one  of  stern  contest,  solid  if  not  rapid  progress,  and,  on 
the  whole,  most  remarkable  results. 

Dr.  It.  S.  Maclay  came  to  the  United  States  in  1888  as  a 
delegate  to  the  General  Conference,  and,  after  careful  con- 
sideration, decided  to  accept  the  position  which  was  tendered 
him  of  Dean  of  the  Maclay  College  of  Theology 
at  San  Fernando,  California.  With  deep  regret  Condition  of 

he  sent  by  letter  to  the  Japan  Conference  the  Work  in  1888 
announcement  of  the  conclusion  of  his  long 
term  of  service  in  that  field.  The  Conference,  feeling  equal 
sorrow  at  parting  with  one  who  had  been  so  true  a leader,  in 

■17 


its  resolutions  on  his  resignation  reviewed  the  fifteen  years, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Mission  in  1873  to  the  fifth  session 
of  the  Japan  Conference,  August,  1888,  covering  the  period  of 

Dr.  Maclay’s  work.  The 
number  of  church  members 
in  1888  was  2,854,  with  849 
probationers.  There  were 
20  missionaries,  19  assistant 
missionaries,  and  3S  native 
preachers.  The  Woman’s 
Foreign  Missionary  Society 
had  12  foreign  missionaries 
and  22  native  workers. 
The  foreign  teachers  num- 
bered 16  and  the  native 
teachers  44.  There  were 
77  Sunday  schools,  with 
4.198  scholars,  and  17  high 
schools  and  other  day 
schools  with  1,79S  pupils. 

In  1898,  at  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  our  work  in 
Japan,  the  southern  portion  of  the  empire,  including  the 
island  of  Kiushiu,  the  Liuchiu  group,  and  Formosa,  was  con- 
stituted the  territory  of  the  South  Japan  Mission 
South  Japan  Conference,  which  held  its  first  session  at  Nagasaki, 
Conference  March,  1S99.  Bishop  Earl  Cranston  presided,  and 
the  new  Conference  entered  on  its  course  with 
remarkably  complete  organization.  In  no  part  of  the  empire 
have  more  rapid  material  developments  taken  place  than  in 
northern  Kiushiu  during  recent  years.  Railways,  new  coal 
mines,  iron  and  steel  plants,  great  government  piers,  and  yards 
turning  out  large  ocean-going  steamships  have  made  this 
section  of  the  South  Japan  Conference  a busy  hive  of  industry. 
Our  churches  and  workers  have  nobly  measured  up  to  these 
conditions  and  opportunities.  With  no  less  alertness  they  have 
kept  in  view  the  extension  of  their  operations  through  the  length 
of  the  Liuchiu  Islands  and  through  Formosa,  which  was  added 
to  Japan’s  possessions  at  the  close  of  her  war  with  China. 

4S 


Episcopal  Supervision 


In  the  earlier  years  of  the  Mission  a Bishop  from  America 
visited  the  field  once  every  year  to  administer  the  affairs  of 
the  Church.  Beginning  with  1896,  Bishop  Joyce  presided 
at  two  successive  sessions  of  the  Conference,  Bishop  Cranston 
at  two.  Bishop  Moore  at  four. 

The  General  Conference  of  1904  elected  the  Rev.  Merriman 
C.  Harris  to  be  Missionary  Bishop  of  Japan  and  Korea,  under 
whose  supervision  the  work  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  Japan  still  remains.  The  formation  of  the  Japan  Methodist 
Church  simply  relieved  Bishop  Harris  of  that  portion  of  the 
administration  belonging  exclusively  to  the  native  Church. 
He  continues  to  superintend  the  entire  work  of  the  missionaries 
of  our  Church  in  Japan. 

The  Publishing  Interests 

Nearly  a score  of  years  ago  the  Methodist  Mission  procured 
printing  materials  and  began  to  do  the  practical  work  of 


the  ginza,  Tokyo’s  leading  thoroughfare 
Methodist  Publishing  House  in  the  B'oreground 
49 


printing  on  a small  scale.  That  work  has  increased  until  the 
Methodist  Publishing  House,  the  only  general 
A Large  publishing  plant  in  the  country  under  special 

and  Growing  missionary  direction,  now  turns  out  from  its 

Enterprise  presses  about  5,000,000  pages  per  month,  prints 

regularly  a score  of  periodicals,  employs  100  men 
regularly,  and  does  a large  business  in  the  sale  of  books  and 
tracts  in  various  languages.  It  makes  its  own  type,  does 
printing  in  eight  different  languages,  and  is  capable  of  taking 
the  paper  from  the  factory  where  it  is  made,  and  turning  it  out 
in  nicely  appearing  books  and  stationery.  It  publishes  the 
Sunday  school  literature  for  the  International  Sunday  School 
Association,  which  organization  is  gradually  reaching  all  the 
Protestant  churches  of  the  empire.  It  also  publishes  the 
Union  Hymnal  (described  on  a previous  page),  known  as  the 
Sambika,  which  appears  in  two  distinct  series  and  nearly  two 
score  different  styles. 

Educational  Work 

Just  as  soon  as  the  missionaries  of  our  Church  to  Japan 
were  able  to  establish  themselves  in  their  homes,  at  the  dif- 
ferent stations  in  the  empire,  they  began  to  teach.  When  they 
had  not  yet  the  language  of  the  people  they 
Early  began  teaching  in  English,  and  from  the  very  first 

Educational  there  were  young  men,  and  later  young  women, 
Work  who  desired  to  learn  the  English  tongue.  As  has 

been  previously  shown,  schools  soon  sprang  into 
existence,  until  the  Mission  now  has  a line  of  schools  ex- 
tending from  north  to  south  throughout  the  empire.  A brief 
mention  of  these  may  be  helpful: 

(1)  The  Iai  Jo  Gakko,  or  Caroline  Wright  Memorial  School, 
located  at  Hakodate,  has  from  the  beginning  been  a center 
of  light  in  that  far  northland.  Its  graduates  have  gone  out  to 
be  Bilile  women,  wives  of  Christian  ministers  and  of  business 
men,  teachers  in  the  schools,  and  earnest  workers  in  various 
good  lines. 

(2)  The  Hirosaki  Jo  Gakko,  a girls’  school  with  grades  from 
primary  to  academic.  The  property  of  this  school  is  not 


owned  by  the  Woman’s  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  but  by 
an  arrangement  with  the  owners  our  women  have  been  teach- 
ers in  the  school  from  its  beginning,  and  the  results  have 
been  beneficial.  There  is  also  in  this  same  town  of  Hirosaki 
a kindergarten,  opened  in  memory  of  Mrs.  Mary  Alexander, 
whose  sudden  translation  at  the  time  of  the  burning  of  their 
house  in  that  city  will  be  specially  remembered  by  many  warm 
friends. 

(3)  Sendai  Girls’  School,  an  intermediate  and  grammar 
school  of  about  fifty  pupils,  doing  an  excellent  work  among 
important  classes  in  this  great  city  of  the  central  north. 

(4)  Aoyama  Gakuin,  located  at  Tokyo,  which  is  the  out- 
growth of  the  Mission  school  first  constructed  at  221  Bluff, 
Yokohama,  now  the  site  of  the  Bible  Women’s  Training 
School.  With  the  development  of  the  work  of  the  Mission,  it 
was  found  important  to  remove  this  first  boys’  school 

to  the  city  of  Tokyo,  where  already  existed  an  ele-  At  Tokyo 

mentary  school  for  boys,  and  the  two  were  united  in 

the  spring  of  1883  at  the  present  site,  Aoyama,  or  Green 


CHAPEL  OF  AOYAMA  GAKUIN,  TOKYO 
51 


Mountain.  Here  are  college,  academy,  and  preparatory  de- 
partments, with  a theological  school  quite  independent  of 
the  other  departments.  The  total  enrollment  of  these  schools 
is  about  600,  and  the  influence  of  the  institution  has  extended 
far  and  wide.  Special  privileges  are  accorded  the  school  by 
the  Educational  Department,  because  of  the  high  grade  of 
work  it  has  been  able  to  do.  Its  graduates  are  to  be  found  in 
important  diplomatic,  official,  and  business  positions,  at  home 
and  abroad.  The  theological  school  has  furnished  the  back- 
bone of  the  ministry  of  the  Methodist  Church  of  to-day.  At 
Aoyama  is  also: 

(5)  The  Aoyama  Jo  Gakuin,  a high  school  and  preparatory 
department  for  girls.  This  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  girls’  schooi 
established  in  1S74  by  Miss  Schoonmaker,  located  first  at 
Tsukiji  and  later  removed  to  Aoyama.  Here  are  some  300 
young  women  and  girls  preparing  for  life’s  work,  and  the 
school  has  a high  standing. 

(6)  At  Aoyama  is  also  to  be  found  the  Harrison  Memorial 
Industrial  School,  which  has  for  its  object  the  training  of 
women  under  Christian  influences  for  the  duties  of  home,  as 
well  as  giving  them  a knowledge  of  some  of  the  fine  arts. 

(7)  Higgins  Memorial  Bible  Training  School,  located  at 
Yokohama,  has  sent  out  from  its  classes  most  of  the  Bible 
women  connected  with  our  own  Church  and  a number  of 
those  now  laboring  in  other  churches  in  Japan. 

(8)  The  Seirvu  Jo  Gakko  (girls’  school!,  is  located  at  Nagoya. 
This  school,  too,  has  had  an  excellent  history,  though  it  has 
met  with  some  severe  losses  by  fires. 

(9)  The  Eiwa  Jo  Gakko.  or  English-Japanese  girls’  school, 
at  Fukuoka,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Island  of  Kiushiu, 
is  another  valuable  institution  of  our  Church. 

(10)  The  Chinzei  Gakuin,  the  second  school  for  boys  in 
the  Mission — for  there  are  but  two  educational  plants  for 

young  men — is  located  at  Nagasaki.  It  was  first 
At  Nagasaki  opened  in  1SS1  and  now  has  an  enrollment  of 
something  like  500,  owns  some  good  buildings,  and 
is  exerting  a strong  Christian  influence  among  the  young 
men  of  the  island. 


53 


SOME  OF  THE  STUDENTS  OF  AO  YAM  A JO  GAKUIN,  TOKYO 


THE  FACULTY  OF  CHINZEI  GAKUIN,  NAGASAKI,  IN  1908 

(11)  Kwassui  Jo  Gakko  (girls’  school),  also  located  at 
Nagasaki,  adjoins  the  property  of  the  boys’  school  mentioned 
above.  This  school,  begun  in  1879  by  Misses  Elizabeth  Rus- 
sell and  Jennie  M.  Gheer,  has  made  for  itself  a unique  place 
among  Christian  forces  of  the  country.  It  equals  in  grade  a 
good  college  for  young  women. 

These  several  institutions  have  proven  valuable  agencies  in 
the  spread  of  Christian  knowledge  among  the  people.  The 
boys’  schools  belong  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions:  the 
gills’  to  the  Woman’s  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 
Important  Several  of  the  most  important  revivals  that  have 
Agencies  occurred  in  Japan  have  had  their  beginning  in  these 
schools.  In  some  instances,  every  member  of  the 
graduating  class  has  been  a Christian,  and  in  two  or  three 
instances,  practically  every  student  attending  the  school  pro- 
fessed faith  in  Christ.  All  of  these  schools,  together  with 
the  publishing  house,  and  kindred  interests,  remain  the  property 
of,  and  under  the  direction  of,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
their  status  not  being  affected  by  the  union,  which  was  a 
union  of  churches,  forming  one  native  Methodist  Church  for 
all  Japan. 


METHODIST  UNION,  ITS  ORIGIN  SCOPE  AND  VALUE 


Without  a doubt  the  missionaries  of  the  several  Methodist 
Churches  are  themselves  chiefly  responsible  for  the  first  mani- 
festations of  the  spirit  of  union  in  Methodist  Churches  in 
Japan.  Before  the  native  Christians  of  our  com- 
munion were  many,  or  had  begun  to  take  practical  As  the 

interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church,  the  missionaries  Missionaries 
of  the  leading  Methodisms — the  Canadian,  and  the  Saw  It 

Methodist  Episcopal — had  begun  to  look  forward 
to  the  development  of  the  Church  in  Japan.  They  saw  the 
waste,  the  danger  of  friction,  and  the  uselessness  of  proceeding 
to  develop  their  respective  churches,  regardless  of  each  other, 
and  therefore  without  any  formal  union  it  was  tacitly  agreed 
that  the  work  of  the  two  churches  should  be  so  conducted  as 
not  to  overlap  each  other,  and  that  the  spirit  of  earnest  coopera- 
tion should  be  cultivated.  In  later  years,  when  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  entered  the  country,  it.  chose  for  its 
field  of  operations  a section  not  yet  occupied  by  either  of  the 
other  two,  so  that  as  the  years  advanced  the  three  developed 
mainly  in  different  sections  of  territory  and  with  a sympathetic 
attitude  toward  each  other. 

As  the  churches  grew  and  men  of  ability  began  to 
appear  in  them,  their  interest  in  the  question  of  Methodist 
union  was  aroused.  There  were  plain  examples  about  them 
of  the  value  of  union.  Five  Presbyterian  bodies  had 
already  united  to  form  one  Presbyterian  Church  for  Object 
Japan,  two  Episcopal  Churches,  English  and  American,  Lessons 
had  united  to  form  one  Episcopal  Church;  those  of 
Congregational  polity  formed  another  Church;  while  those  of 
the  Baptist  persuasion  were  considering  the  formation  of  one 
Baptist  Church  for  Japan.  As  the  number  of  Methodist  bodies 
increased,  it  became  apparent  that  the  formation  of  one  Meth- 
odist Church  would  result  in  economy  and  efficiency  to  the 
work  as  a whole. 

But  this  idea  did  not  find  strong  expression  with  Japanese 
Methodists  until  the  political  changes  following  the  recent 
wars  began  to  be  felt.  These  wars  tended  to  unify  the  people 


and  a pro-national  sentiment  arose  which  undoubtedly  had 
some  influence.  To  infer  that  this  was  nar- 
Growing  Feeling  row  and  ungrateful,  selfish  and  blind,  would 
Among  Japanese  be  to  make  a serious  mistake.  As  American 
Methodists  at  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war 
felt  the  necessity  of  establishing  a Church  independent  of  the 
mother  country  and  mother  church,  so  Japanese  Methodists 
came  to  feel  the  importance  of  having  a Methodism  separate 
from  the  mother  church  and  having  its  legal  and  actual  home 
in  Japan.  The  leaders  of  the  uniting  Methodist  Churches  saw 
all  this  and  took  the  right  and  wise  course  in  approving 
union  rather  than  that  these  churches  should  ultimately  dis- 
integrate and  die. 

This  Japanese  nationalistic  spirit  is  not  to  be  condemned. 
It  is  right,  patriotic,  self-protective,  unquenchable.  The  true 
mission  of  the  Christian  Church  is  to  Christianize  this  spirit, 
and  to  utilize  it  in  the  spread  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus.  To 
oppose  it  blindly  is  to  defeat  the  mission  of  the  gospel  in  this 
land . 

The  approach  to  organic  union  was  a natural  growth,  not 
a forced  process.  It  had  been  for  twenty  years  under  con- 
templation. When,  therefore,  in  view  of  the  above  facts  the 
time  seemed  ripe  for  union,  the  respective  General 
Organization  Conferences  of  the  three  churches  having  answered 
Effected  favorably  the  petitions  from  Japan,  the  following 

commissioners  visited  Japan  to  effect  the  organiza- 
tion: Bishop  A.  W.  Wilson  and  the  Rev.  W.  R.  Lambuth  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South;  Bishop  A.  Carman 
and  the  Rev.  A.  Sutherland  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  Canada; 
and  Bishop  Earl  Cranston  and  the  Rev.  A.  B.  Leonard  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  These  commissioners,  clothed 
with  full  powers  to  do  what  might  be  thought  best,  went 
carefully  over  the  whole  matter  again  and  again  in  fullest 
consultation  with  both  missionaries  and  Japanese,  and  came 
fully  to  approve  and  warmly  to  defend  the  union  project, 
which  was  ultimately  approved  by  their  General  Conferences 
at  home. 

The  Japan  Methodist  Church  is  established  upon  the  doc- 


FIRST  GENERAL  CONFERENCE  OF  THE  JAPAN  METHODIST  CHURCH,  HELD  IN  MAY,  1907 


trines  of  Methodism  prominent  from  Wesley’s  day  to  this,  and 
accepts  the  polity  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches  in  all 
essential  features.  The  only  exceptions  to  the 
The  Same  With  latter  are  that  the  election  of  the  Episcopacy  is 

Two  Exceptions  for  a term  of  eight  years  instead  of  for  life,  and 

district  superintendents  are  nominated  by  the 
Conference  for  appointment  by  the  bishop,  two  nominees 
being  presented  for  each  appointment  to  be  made.  By  action 
of  the  General  Conference  of  this  new  Church,  the  foreign 
missionaries  were  accorded  all  the  privileges  which  Japanese 
members  of  Conference  enjoy. 

This  union  affected  the  native  churches  only,  and  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  schools,  publishing  houses,  hospitals, 
dispensaries,  homes,  orphanages,  missionary  residences,  or  other 
Mission  property  of  the  several  Missions.  The 
Relationship  respective  Home  Boards  still  remain  responsible  for 
of  Boards  the  carrying  on  of  these  lines  of  work  and  their 
development  until  such  time  as  the  new  Church 
may  be  able  to  take  them  over,  which  must,  in  the  nature 
of  the  case,  be  somewhat  remote. 

The  new  agreement  puts  upon  the  churches  the  respon- 
sibility of  meeting  all  their  own  current  expenses,  repairs, 
building,  traveling,  etc.,  and  promises  them  assistance,  for  a 
limited  time  only,  in  paying  salaries  and  chapel  rents  in  order 
to  keep  up  the  work. 

The  young  Church  in  Japan  cannot  at  the  present  time 
furnish  the  funds  for  its  own  sustenance  and  at  the  same  time 
evangelize  the  forty  millions  yet  unreached.  It  must  have 
help,  and  that  for  some  time  continued,  not  so  much 
Financial  for  its  own  support,  for  it  will  soon  accomplish 

Help  Needed  that,  but  to  aid  it  in  reaching  the  other  nine  tenths 

of  the  unsaved.  Right  here  is  the  problem.  Un- 
aided the  young  Church  will  be  swamped  in  heathenism,  mate- 
rialism, agnosticism  and  other  forms  of  unbelief.  Japan  is  yet 
far  from  Christ.  Millions  of  money  and  many  consecrated 
lives  must  yet  be  put  into  this  battle.  For  some  years  yet 
no  diminution  of  financial  aid  can  be  safely  allowed.  The 
number  of  missionaries  should  be  increased,  and  to  aid  the 


accomplishment  of  this  a gradual  reduction  of  the  direct 
contributions  to  the  support  of  the  Japanese  ministry  should 
be  possible.  Any  reduction  of  missionary  forces  in  Japan  at 
present  is  not  to  be  thought  of.  Some  say:  “They  wanted 
to  be  independent.  Now  take  away  support,  use  it  in  other 
fields,  and  let  them  be  independent.”  Such  a spirit  is  revenge- 
ful, selfish  and  destructive. 

To  allow  a child  to  try  to  walk,  though  it  may  experience 
some  falls  and  bruises,  is  in  the  end  helpful  to  both  parent 
and  child.  But  because  the  child  naturally  desires  to  use  its 
own  limbs  for  development,  it  would  be  irrational  to  demand 
that  it  at  once  assume  all  the  burdens  and  cares  of  full  manhood. 

Give  the  child  a chance,  and  it  will  take  its  place  in  the  race. 

It  is  too  early  as  yet  to  estimate  accurately  the  value  of 
this  union  in  all  that  it  means.  It  is  certain  that  its  influence 
will  not  be  confined  to  Japan.  But  it  is  possible  even  now 
to  note  certain  points  of  decided  advantage. 

(1)  It  permits  the  governed  to  choose  their  leaders  Results  of 
— the  democratic  principle  in  church  government.  At  the  Union 
once,  all  eyes  turned  toward  the  Rev.  Yoitsu  Honda  of 

our  own  Church,  and  he  was 
elected  bishop  on  the  first 
ballot  with  a vote  almost 
unanimous.  No  other  Chris- 
tian in  the  empire  has  a 
wider  influence  or  is  better 
known.  He  is  doing  a heroic 
work  for  the  young  Church. 

(2)  It  put  the  chief  bur- 
den of  evangelization  where 
it  belongs — upon  the  people 
themselves  rather  than  upon 
foreigners.  The  missionary 
must  open  the  way  and 
should  assist  to  victory,  but 
the  native  is  the  man — God’s 
man — to  lead  in  completing 
the  work. 


BISHOP  YOITSU  HONDA 


(3)  It  has  aided  self-support  immensely.  A new  spirit  has 
possessed  the  Church.  It  cannot  suddenly  do  great  things, 
but  it  shows  the  right  spirit  and  will  win. 

(I)  It  has  encouraged  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice.  -Pastors 
can  now  walk  where  once  they  must  ride.  Current  expenses 
can  be  cut  down.  Individual  Christians  can  give  more  when 
they  feel  responsible  for  a Church  all  their  own. 

(5)  It  tends  to  economy  in  money  and  men.  Mot  many 
unions  of  societies  to  form  single  churches  have  been  possible 
because  care  was  taken  in  the  past  that  no  two  churches  should 
occupy  the  same  field;  but  one  system  of  general  supervision 
takes  the  place  of  the  former  three'  one  treasurer  pays  out 
for  all  Missions;  one  source  of  appointment  must  provide  for 
all  churches. 

(6)  It  has  revealed  to  Japanese  Methodist  leaders  the 
dimensions  of  their  task  and  their  own  limitations.  This  is 
important.  If  formerly  they  fancied  that  the  missionaries  did 
not  know  how  to  bring  rapid  success — that  with  the  right 
kind  of  leadership  heathenism  must  at  once  give  way  to  their 
preaching — they  are  learning  the  magnitude  of  the  task  which 
the  Christian  Church  has  yet  to  work  out  in  Japan.  All  this 
tends  to  bring  them  upon  their  knees  before  Almighty  God. 

(7)  It  has  relieved  the  missionary  of  official  leadership  and 
from  a form  of  criticism  which  was  unpleasant.  If  the  right- 
kind  of  man,  he  can  now  give  his  whole  time  to  teaching  and 
moral  leading.  His  advice  is  sought,  his  help  appreciated  as 
it  might  not  have  been  before.  He  can  establish  his  own 
classes  and  chapels,  and  work  effectively  for  Christ.  The 
schools,  the  press,  the  Bible  classes,  the  preaching  demand  all 
of  the  missionary’s  time,  and  are  the  really  efficient  means  for 
the  spread  of  the  gospel. 

The  obligation  of  American  Methodists  to  assist  their 
brothers  in  Japan  in  the  evangelization  of  the  unreached 
millions  has  not  been  lessened  by  the  formation  of  this  inde- 
pendent Church  organization.  We  did  not  enter 
The  Obligation  Japan  primarily  to  build  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
of  American  or  some  other  Church  but  to  save  the  souls  of 

Methodists  those  lost  in  sin  and  add  them  to  the  kingdom  of 


Jesus.  The  presence  of  our  own  Church  organizations 
in  Japan  was  merely  a means  to  that  supreme  end.  When 
it  became  apparent  that  this  great  end  could  the  better  be 
accomplished  by  creating  an  independent  National  Church, 
built  upon  the  .same  foundations  as  the  mother  churches,  and 
having  the  same  blessed  mission  of  carrying  the  gospel  to  the 
people,  what  objections  could  reasonable  men  anywhere  oppose 
to  this  work  of  God? 

The  compact  made  with  the  Japan  Methodist  Church  for- 
bids the  three  American  Methodisms,  the  mother  Churches,  to 
organize  again  their  several  Churches  upon  the  soil  of  Japan — 
this  in  protection  of  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  new  Church. 
But  it  does  not  prevent  our  aiding  this  Church.  On  the  con- 
trary, in  all  the  careful  and  painstaking  deliberations  of  the 
commissioners  and  missionaries  with  the  Japanese  brethren, 
the  idea,  recurring  in  many  forms,  was  constantly  conveyed, 
that  the  marriage  of  the  daughter  should  not  be  allowed  to 
alienate  the  sympathy,  interest  or  assistance  of  the  mother 
heart.  True,  the  assistance  might  take  a new  direction — in 
some  respects  would  of  necessity  do  so — but  it  certainly  should 
not  be  withdrawn. 

It  would  not  be  well  that  the  aid  given  should  go  directly 
to  the  new  Church,  but  through  the  agency  of  our  duly  con- 
stituted missionaries  on  the  field  and  our  well-established 
financial  channels.  But  let  us  not  forget  our  obligations. 
Under  existing  circumstances,  any  proposition  to  withdraw 
now  our  aid  to  Japan  would  be  disloyal,  ungenerous,  and 
wholly  unworthy  of  Methodism. 

As  other  Protestant  denominations — the  Episcopalians,  the 
Presbyterians,  the  Congregationalists  and  the  Baptists — are  aid- 
ing their  native  churches  in  Japan,  though  possessing  wholly 
independent  organizations  on  this  field,  by  furnishing  them 
with  missionaries,  schools  and  other  accessory  agencies,  so 
American  Methodists  should  gladly  furnish  similar  aid  to 
Japanese  Methodism,  and  thus  contribute  to  the  coming 
victory.  Christian  Japan  will  be  a worthy  reward. 


61 


THE  CALL  OF  JAPAN  TO  CHRISTIAN  AMERICA 


What  stronger  providential  appeal  to  American  Christians 
could  he  made  than  that  which  Japan  offers?  Her  appeal  is 
strong  because  of  the  following  considerations. 

1 . Because  of  her  history.  Within  the  memory  of 
Her  many  now  living,  Japan  was  a land  sealed  to  the  world, 

History  knowing  little  and  unknown.  Her  language,  literature, 

arts  and  religion  had  come  to  her  from  the  hoary 
East.  She  sat  in  spiritual  and 
scientific  darkness,  scarce  dream- 
ing of  the  depth  of  her  night. 

Suddenly  rays  of  light  began 
to  fall  upon  her.  She  awoke. 

She  began  at  once  to  move. 

To-day  she  ranks  in  laws 
and  literature,  in  schools  and 
commerce,  in  deeds  and  diplo- 
macy high  up  in  the  scale  of 
nations.  For  rapid  progress 
she  has  no  equal  among  the 
nations. 

It  was  America  that  led 
her  out.  It  was  America  that 
taught  and  guided  her  in  her 
introduction  to  the  world.  In 
American  schools  many  of  her 
sons  have  been  educated,  and 
American  sympathy  has  steadied  her  through  some  of  her 
mightiest  struggles.  It  is  to  America  that  she  looks  for  that 
which  is  freest,  fairest,  and  best.  Her  new  birth  history  claims 
for  her  a hearing. 

2.  Because  of  the  Christian  progress  she  has  made.  Chris- 
tianity is  already  in  high  places  in  Japan.  It  is  fortified  in 
the  Constitution;  it  is  written  in  the  spirit  of  the 
Her  Christian  laws;  it  finds  general  support  in  the  commercial 
Progress  and  diplomatic  relations  of  Japan  with  the  outside 

world;  and  to-morrow  may  see  some  Prince  Shotoku 


and  some  modern  Prime  Minister  Soga  no  Iname  ready  to 
die  for  the  propagation  of  the  faith.  Any  one  at  all  acquainted 
with  conditions  in  Japan  knows  that  his  Majesty’s  most  reliable 
subjects  are  now  the  Christians.  In  Parliament  and  in  many 
positions  of  trust  they  number  full  twenty  times  their  normal 
proportion. 

Take  now  into  account  Japan's  75,000  Protestant  Church 
members,  or  her  168,000  Christians,  Roman  and  Greek  Catholic 
included,  to  say  nothing  of  hundreds  of  thousands  not  enrolled 
in  the  Church  but  whose  lives  have  been  profoundly  impressed 
by  the  gospel,  and  what  an  appeal  for  help  do  these  make 
in  their  efforts  to  win  40,000,000  yet  untouched  by  the  new 
light!  Can  we  fail  to  hear  the  call  of  these  our  children  in 
the  gospel? 

3.  Because  of  her  moral  and  religious  needs.  The  pre- 

ceding pages  of  this  booklet  tell  the  story  of  Japan’s  great 
need — not  to  know  something  about  Christianity,  but  to  be 
permeated  with  the  Christ  spirit.  The  stoical  indiffer- 
ence, the  unrest,  the  sad  want,  cannot  be  hidden  from  Hei 
those  who  read  beneath  the  surface.  Needs 

This  moral  need  is  written  upon  the  faces  of  nine  tenths 
of  all  you  meet.  The  Christian  Churches  are  yet  unable  to 
cope  with  the  pagan  mass  that  increasingly  crowds  upon 
them,  and  in  their  need  they  cry  out  to  American  Christians, 
their  nearest  brothers,  for  help  to  meet  the  task.  And  they 
must  not  cry  in  vain. 

4.  Because  of  her  influence  in  the  Orient.  Providence  has 
given  Japan  the  key  position  to  the  Orient.  Thought  and 
feeling  flow  from  East  to  West.  Japan  is  catching  the 

sunlight  from  the  moral  hilltops  of  America  and  will  Her 

pass  it  on.  Politically  her  influence  ascends  rapidly.  Influence 
Let  Japan  but  become  Christian  and  who  can  measure 
her  influence  for  good? 

But  the  present  is  a critical  hour  in  the  religious  history 
of  Japan.  Unless  some  calamity  befall  her,  she  will  continue 
to  rise  in  political  and  commercial  importance  in  the  far  East,  , 
and  she  will  pass  on  to  the  westward  the  influence  derived 
from  America.  She  will  be  a help  or  a hindrance  to  China 


according  to  what  America  shall  do  for  her.  God  forbid  that 
Japan’s  influence  in  China  and  Korea  shall  be  materialistic, 
atheistic  and  destructive.  The  decision  of  this  question  is 
under  God,  largely  in  the  hands  of  American  Christians. 
America  has  the  money,  the  men  and  the  spiritual  power  and 
opportunity.  ‘What  shall  the  harvest  be?” 

LITERATURE 

The  best  brief  works  descriptive  of  Japan  and  the  Chris- 
tian work  therein  are: 

1.  Sunrise  in  the  Sunrise  Kingdom,  by  J.  IT.  DeForest, 

50  cents. 

2.  Handbook  of  Modern  Japan,  by  E.  W.  Clement,  $1.50. 

3.  The  Gist  of  Japan,  by  R.  B.  Peery,  $1.25. 

4.  The  Christian  Movement  in  Japan,  1900,  75  cents. 

5.  From  Far  Formosa,  by  G.  L.  MacKay,  $1.50. 

Good  biographies  are  the  following: 

1.  Verbeck  Oj?  Japan,  by  W.  E.  Griffis,  $1.50. 

2 .Joseph  Hardy  Neesima,  by  A.  S.  Hardy,  $2.00. 

3.  Townsend  Harris,  by  W.  E.  Griffis,  $1.50. 

The  best  books  on  the  native  religions: 

1.  Shinto,  the  Way  of  the  Gods,  by  W.  G Aston,  $2.00 

2.  The  Development  of  Religion  in  Japan,  by  W G. 

Knox. 

3.  Bushido,  by  I.  Nitobe,  $1.00. 

4.  The  Religions  of  Japan,  by  W.  E.  Griffis,  $1.25. 

If  one  would  understand  the  religious  setting  in  Japan,  he 
must  read: 

1.  Japan,  by  David  Murray,  Story  of  Nations  Series, 

$1.50.  (Best  single  volume  history  of  Japan.) 

2.  Evolution  of  the  Japanese,  by  S.  L.  Gulick,  $2.00. 

3.  The  Mikado’s  Empire,  by  W.  E.  Griffis,  2 vols.,  $4.00. 

4.  History  of  Christianity  in  Japan,  by  Otis  Cary, 

2 vols.,  $5.00. 

5.  Every-Day  Japan,  by  Arthur  Lloyd,  $3.00. 

0.  Japanese  Education,  by  Baron  Kikuchi,  $1.25. 

04 


